And the Blood Rains Down
by redsandman99
Summary: Sequel to Bound by Blood. Jeff and the others head to New Orleans to hook up with Roxxi. Mark wants to return to his murderous ways with the Ministry. Will the two sides declare war on each other or the world? And can they be stopped either way?
1. Chapter 1

Mark looked down at the bandage that was on his chest. It had been a couple of days since the whole fiasco at John's house and he had a chance to reflect on everything he had been doing and what he wanted to do next. He knew for a fact that Jeff, James and the others were long gone by now. And despite everything that had happened, he had no plans to actively chase them as soon as he got out of the hospital. Now he would make Jeff pay for stabbing him with a unicorn, there was no doubt about that. But at the moment, he had a few other things to take care of. First up: trying to get Sara to stop bitching about the fact that he called the FBI and officially resigned from his job.

"Honey, I just don't understand," Sara said for the hundredth time. She was watching him put on his street clothes. Today he was officially being released from the hospital. "Why do you want to quit? This was just one incident that went badly. Why do you want to quit over this one little thing?"

"I'm not quitting because I got stabbed and tossed out a window," Mark said irritably. He was trying to be patient with her; he really, really was. But he couldn't handle her constant questioning much longer. "I've been sick of my job for a long, long time now. I've been wanting to quit and this seemed like the opportunity to do it."

"Without consulting me? What are we going to do for money Mark? Did you even think about that?"

Mark glared at her. "I'll take care of everything Sara," he growled. He held out his hand. "Now hand me the keys. I'll drop you off at home so I can go off and run some errands."

She looked confused. "What do you mean you need to run some errands? Honey, the doctor told you that you needed to rest."

He rolled his eyes and forcibly took the keys from her. He didn't have time to listen to her. What he wanted to do now was far more important than his wife, his kids and even getting back at Jeff.

The Ministry of Darkness was going to rise again, only this time it was going to be bigger and more dangerous than before.

XXXXXXXXXX

"I can't believe this shit!" Jack Swagger yelled angrily. He banged his fist against the hood of his car. He, his girlfriend Tiffany, his friend Ricky Ortiz and Ricky's girlfriend Lena Yada were stranded on the side of some God forsaken road because his car had broken down. "What the fuck are we going to do now?"

"We could try walking to the nearest gas station and calling for help," Tiffany suggested.

Ricky rolled his eyes. "There's not another gas station for ten miles. Do you really feel like walking ten miles Tiffany?"

"Well what else are we going to do? We can't just stand here like idiots just because that's the only thing you're good at."

"Hey!" Lena exclaimed. "Don't insult my boyfriend just because your boyfriend's car is a piece of shit."

"Everyone shut up!" Jack yelled. He was too angry to listen to everyone argue like a bunch of five year olds. "Just shut up right now! We've got a serious issue here!"

Ricky looked out on the road. "Hey, I think I see some cars coming. Hey Lena, put your shirt up and flash them so they'll pull over."

Lena responded to that by hitting her boyfriend on the back of the head.

"You are so stupid Ricky," Tiffany muttered. She started waving her arms around to get the driver's attention. To Jack's surprise, two cars and a truck pulled over to help them.

A blonde woman with very long legs stepped out of the first car. "Car break down?" she asked.

Jack nodded. "Yeah. Do you guys have jumper cables or something? We'd really like to get back out on the road again."

The woman grinned. "Miz, do you have jumper cables in your car?"

"Of course I do Stacy," Miz said as he got out of his car. "Jeff, why don't you reach back and grab the jumper cables for me?"

Jeff shook his head. "Sorry dude, but I have a better idea." He stepped out of the car and pointed a gun at the four stranded people.

Jack's eyes widened as he saw Stacy and Miz take out guns too. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"It's called kidnapping you jabroni," the guy driving the truck said. He got out of his vehicle. While he didn't have a gun, he did have some duct tape.

"Dwayne!" the guy who was in Stacy's car said.

"Yeah James?" Dwayne responded.

"If they have any good CD's in their car, please steal them for me. I am tired of listening to the bullshit Stacy calls music."

"Oh it is not that bad," Stacy whined as Dwayne bounded Jack's, Ricky's, Lena's, and Tiffany's wrists and ankles together.

Miz shoved Lena and Ricky into Stacy's car and Jeff shoved Jack and Tiffany into his and Miz's car. "Why are you doing this to us?" Tiffany asked. "What do you want?"

Jeff grinned. "You're going to the Voodoo Queen Blondie. May God have mercy on your soul." He cackled insanely and slammed the car door shut, thereby representing their fate that was seemingly set in stone now.


	2. Chapter 2

Jeff bounced around in his seat. "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? I want to be there right now. Make it so we're there right now."

Miz gave his friend a suspicious look. "You know Jeff, I thought I saw some of those tiny six hour energy drinks in the back of poor Jack's car when Dwayne was trying to find CD's for James. You didn't sneak any, did you?"

"Yeah I did," Jeff said with a nod. I had three of them so that means I'll be up for eighteen hours. Isn't that great?"

"No, actually it's not. I don't want to deal with a hyper you for eighteen seconds, let alone eighteen hours."

"Why? Am I annoying or something?"

"Yes."

Jeff's jaw dropped in shock. He was really offended by that. "How could you say that? I'm supposed to be your friend!" He looked back at Tiffany. "Do you think I'm annoying?"

"I think you're psychotic," Jack informed him.

Jeff glared at the bound man. "I wasn't talking to you Cindy Brady. You better keep your mouth shut or you're going to have more to worry about than your dorky lisp." He turned back around and glanced out the window. "Oh look, we're now entering New Orleans. Ooohhh! Look at all the pretty stuff. Miz pull over. I want to look around."

"I'm not pulling over," Miz informed him. He was starting to sound extremely irritated.

"Oh come on, just pull over for two seconds."

"No."

"Pull over!"

"I AM NOT PULLING OVER JEFF SO JUST SHUT UP!"

Jeff made a high pitched whining noise and stomped his foot. There had been no reason for him to get yelled at. He just wanted to go look around. Was that too much to ask? "Did Hunter's ghost possessed you when he died? Is that the bug that crawled up your ass?"

Miz looked ready to kill him. "No, the bug that crawled up my ass is spending three fucking days sitting in a car alone with you. You have done nothing but drive me insane."

"Good. I hope I've driven you so crazy that you don't know your ass from your hat."

Miz frowned. "That did not make sense."

"I know, but it didn't have to," Jeff said defensively. "I'm a crazy serial killer. If people don't like the insane things I say, I'll just slice them up into little pieces."

Roxxi lived in a huge, run down mansion that looked like it was haunted with something. Running around the yard was large Samoan man wearing no shirt, no shoes and he had tribal paint all over his face. "Dude, what is with the sudden emergences of Samoans lately?" Miz asked. "Did we end up in Samoa and not realize it?"

Jeff shrugged. "I don't know, but I'll go find out." He got out of the car and approached the strange man. "Hey dude, what's your story! And what's that funny stuff on your face?"

The man turned around and started babbling at him in some strange language. The only comprehensible word Jeff could make out was Umaga. "Hey, I can make up a language too," he said. "Auch pu do fey sic Jeff Hardy eeck woek waz tex kill like a motha fucka boy! Ud whep welz sest and I have no idea what I'm saying."

"Neither do we," James said as he got out of the car. "Umaga was speaking Samoan Jeff. He wasn't speaking gibberish like you were trying to."

"Well it sounded like gibberish," Jeff replied. Honestly, how was he supposed to know it was Samoan? Did he look like the type of person who spoke strange languages? No, he did not. He cocked his head to the side. "Why are you wearing that funny paint?"

Umaga also cocked his head to the side. "Samoa!" More babbling ensued.

"Okay, that is not an answer. You have to make it so I understand what you're saying."

Umaga just yelled some more and then went into the mansion. Jeff didn't know whether Umaga truly didn't understand him or didn't know how to respond in English. Either way, he was just really confused now.

James patted his shoulder sympathetically. "Don't worry. Everybody but Roxxi feels that way after a conversation with the Samoan Bulldozer."

Jeff giggled. "Bulldozers are fun."

Miz, Stacy, Dwayne and Cactus got the offerings out of the car and they all went into the mansion. "Roxxi?" Stacy called out. "Are you here?"

"This place is really creepy," Dwayne muttered. He had Ricky tossed over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes. "I feel like something is just going to jump out at me and…"

"Hello there."

"Sweet Jesus!" Dwayne screeched as a red headed woman came out of nowhere and stood right in front of them.

Cactus shook his head. "That's not Jesus. That's Natalya."

Dwayne glared at him. "I know that's not Jesus you moron." He glared at Natalya. "You can't just jump out at people like that. That's scary."

Natalya rolled her eyes. "I'll keep that in mind. She examined Jack, Tiffany, Lena and Ricky carefully. "Very nice. Where did you find them?"

"The side of the road," Stacy answered. "It was very convenient. Where's Roxxi?"

"In the back room with Victoria. I'll take you there."

Jeff leaned over towards Miz as they followed Natalya. "You know, there's probably ghosts in this place that want to kill you."

"Dude, we're at a Voodoo Queen's mansion," Miz said. "We're more likely to run into zombies." His eyes suddenly widened. "James, Stacy, does Roxxi make zombies?"

Stacy and James looked at each other. "Well we've never SEEN her do it," James said slowly.

"That's not very comforting," Dwayne informed him.

Natalya opened a door and ushered them into a room that was lit up so it looked completely red. Victoria was sitting on the floor with Umaga and it looked like she was trying to teach him how to play cards. Roxxi was sitting on the bed with a bunch of tarot cards out in front of her. She didn't even look up as they came in.

"The bodies are in the back waiting to be buried James," Roxxi said. She turned several cards over and studied them carefully. "The tides are starting to change yet again. Agents will be hunting you again, but something will come between them." She flipped over another card. "A woman. She will lead to their destruction." She picked up another card and looked at it. "A ministry shrouded in darkness is gathering power." She finally looked up at James. "Mark's doing it again."

James raised his eyebrows. "Mark's reuniting the Ministry of Darkness and he didn't bother to call me? I'll have to talk to him about that."

"Well you had a chance to talk to him at the hospital but you let yourself get distracted with Dwayne," Stacy pointed out.

"Yeah, well, you do have a point there."

Roxxi got up and started circling Jeff. "With every death, comes a new life" She held up three tarot cards. They were of a lamb, a snake and two headed baby. "Innocence will be taken," she said as she pointed to the lamb card. "An obsession will form." Apparently the snake represented the obsession. "And then the new generation will be born." That was the represented by the baby card.

Jeff just nodded along. "I have no idea what you are talking about freaky lady."

Roxxi grinned. "You will in time Jeffery. You will in time." She looked at the offerings that were being presented to her. "Oh they are perfect," she said with a nod. "Let's put them in the basement until it's time for the party. Tonight we're celebrating MY version of Mardi Gras."

"And that's different from the regular Mardi Gras?" Miz asked

Roxxi nodded. "I like roasting people. It's fun to hear them scream while they burn."

Jeff grinned. Roxxi was one twisted lady. He liked her already. "Sweet. This is going to be awesome."


	3. Chapter 3

Agent AJ Styles knocked on his partner Kurt Angle's front door. He had no idea why Kurt was insisting that he had to come over tonight. He had tried asking, but all Kurt would say was that it was so important that it couldn't wait until morning. Normally AJ would have insisted that it could wait, but he didn't feel like fighting with his partner tonight. It usually ended up being more trouble than it was worth.

Kurt's wife Karen answered the door. "Hi AJ," she said with a smile. "Come on in. Kurt will be out of the shower in a few minutes."

AJ smiled at Karen as he entered the house. She was so sweet and beautiful that he could barely stand it sometimes. Yes, he was in love with his partner's wife. He had loved her ever since he had first laid eyes on her. He loved her so much and he believed she deserved so much better than Kurt. Kurt didn't love her as much as he did. Kurt didn't appreciate her as much as he did. "Your hair looks really nice today Karen."

"Aw, thank you AJ. It's so nice of you to notice. Kurt hasn't said one word about it all day."

"Yeah, well, he's always thinking about the job." It was something that actually really annoyed AJ. He did care about his job and wanted to be good at it, there was no doubt about that. But unlike Kurt, he wasn't going to let it come before everything else.

Karen nodded sadly. "You noticed that too?"

"It's kind of hard not to notice it."

She sighed. "I know. I wish he wasn't like that. Sometimes it's so bad that I wonder if I'm not doing enough to make him want me too."

Before AJ knew what he was doing, he cupped Karen's face in his hands and looked deep into her eyes. "Only a fool wouldn't want you," he told her.

Karen blinked several times. "And what if Kurt is that fool? What do I do then?"

AJ brushed his thumb across the corner of her mouth. Suddenly he heard Kurt coming down the stairs. He and Karen quickly pulled apart and tried not to act guilty. "Hey Kurt. What did you want to talk to me about?"

Kurt didn't seem to notice how AJ and Karen were acting. "Hey AJ. I've got to talk to you about this new case we're taking tomorrow." He looked at Karen. "Hey honey, Kara was wondering if you would come and help her find that dress she wants to wear tomorrow."

Karen sighed and started heading upstairs. AJ tried hard to look like he wasn't watching her go. "So we've got a new case to work on?" he asked.

Kurt nodded. "You remember that Jeff Hardy case?"

"Yeah, it's kind of hard not to when the four agents working on it ended up dead."

"Well they want you and I to take over it."

AJ stared at him in shock. "Okay, do they believe we have a death wish now?"

"Hey, this is a good opportunity for us Styles. With Mark quitting, they'll be looking for somebody to take his place. If we bring down one of the most notorious killers in American history, it could be us."

_You mean you want it to be you_, AJ thought bitterly. _This is all about trying to advance your own career no matter what the consequences._ He didn't say this though. He knew he was going to have to go through with this no matter what. "Okay. Why couldn't you have just told me about this in the morning at work?"

"Because we should start chasing down leads as soon as possible," Kurt explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You don't want anybody else to die, do you AJ?"

AJ sighed and shook his head. This was going to be a long night.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Mark looked at the people gathered around him. Glenn was standing in the corner; he hadn't said much the entire night. Gangrel was sipping human blood out of his jeweled cup while watching Christian, who could not seem to grasp the concept of solving a Rubik's cube. Raven was examining his chipped nail polish like it was the most fascinating thing in the world. Nobody was saying anything.

"Well?" Mark finally said. "Isn't anybody going to ask why I called you all here?"

"I thought we were waiting for James," Christian said. "He's the only Ministry member missing."

Mark shook his head. "James and I are having a little disagreement at the moment. He's not going to be here tonight."

Gangrel rolled his eyes. "Jesus, you two are worse than a married couple. What happened between you two now?"

"It's not important," Mark growled.

"Yeah Gangrel, haven't you learned anything by now?" Raven asked. "It's not important because Mark and James will kiss and make up in no time. If one of them didn't have the other to drive crazy, they wouldn't know what to do."

Mark sighed. "Can we please just talk about getting the Ministry back together? That is what I called you all here for."

"Well we figured that out already," Raven said. "You've got a girl tied up here on our old symbol here. I mean, what else could you want?"

Mark looked over at Alicia Fox, who was the girl in question. He had almost forgotten all about her. "Yeah well, I figured we could celebrate the Ministry's rebirth with a little sacrifice. She's a pretty one, isn't she?"

Gangrel got up and examined Alicia closely. She had duct tape over her mouth as his fangs came within inches of her neck. "Jeez Mark, you should know how to pick them," he said in appreciation. He looked back at the others. "I'm in for this little reunion. What about you guys?"

Raven nodded. "Yeah, I'm in." He looked at Christian. "What about you?"

"Damn it!" Christian yelled. "I give up!" He tossed the Rubik's cube across the room. He grinned at the looks the others were giving him. "Oh yeah, I'm in."

Mark nodded. "Good. Glenn, you mind setting Alicia up for us?"

Glenn walked out of the corner and propped the symbol up so it was standing up against the wall. "Who wants to do the honors?" Mark asked.

Raven took a knife out of his pocket. "I'll do it." He ripped Alicia's shirt off and carved the Ministry's symbol into her chest. Her cries were muffled by the duct tape. Mark watched in appreciation as Raven slashed the girl's throat. Raven was a sick bastard. All of his fellow Ministry members were. That was why they were a part of his group. They had to be sick fucks to associate with him.

"Boys," Mark said proudly, "this is a dawning of a new era."

"Awesome," Christian said. "Now where did I throw that Rubik's cube go? I think I know how to solve it now."

Mark sighed. Even in the dawning of a new era, some things never changed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

James had to hand it to Roxxi, she did know how to throw quite the celebration. They were all in her backyard with the very underbelly of New Orleans of society. Jack, Ricky, Tiffany and Lena were tied to four different wooden posts and they were set to burn at any moment. Dwayne had fired up the grill and was cooking hamburgers and hot dogs. The new guests that arrived included Rob Van Dam, Sabu, JTG, Shad, Luna Vachon, Christopher Daniels, New Jack (James wondered if there was an Old Jack), Samoa Joe and Traci Brooks. Everybody acted like this was a common occurrence around here. Knowing Roxxi, it probably was.

Stacy sat down next to him. "Are you okay? You seem kind of moody tonight."

James shrugged. "I'm just thinking."

"About Mark?"

He shook his head. "No, I know that either that either I or Raven can talk Mark out of killing Jeff. Raven's heard of Jeff's reputation and he'll want to keep Jeff alive out of pure entertainment value. The most that will end up happening is that Mark will slap Jeff around a little bit."

"So why the long face?"

"I'm worried about Jeff himself. He's lost his entire family. I don't care how crazy he is; it's done something to his mind. Have you noticed how much more child like he's been acting lately?"

Stacy shrugged. "I guess he has been doing it more often now, but he's always been that way honey. If you're so worried about him, why don't we become his new parents?"

James shook his head. "We've been Uncle James and Aunt Stacy for too long. And you both know we don't have the heart to keep him in line like Hunter did. Hunter was downright mean to him half the time."

"So who do you suggest then?"

"Well I was hoping I could talk Mark into it. Jeff needs authority"

Stacy looked at him like he was insane. Hell, maybe he was. But Mark was really the only guy he knew that could possibly be scary enough for Jeff to listen to. He himself had played father to Miz, Morrison and Cactus for years, but they didn't have the listening problems Jeff did.

Roxxi took a torch and lit the offerings on fire. Their muffled screams and the smell of their burning flesh filled the air. She, Jeff, Umaga, Victoria and Miz let out loud whoops and started dancing around the giant fire that had started. Stacy grinned and shook her head. "They are so weird." Her eyes widened and she looked at James. "Hey, what do you think of Roxxi and Jeff together? She's insane enough to handle him."

"Roxxi rarely does men, remember?" James reminded her. "That's why Victoria and Natalya are here."

"She could make an exception! Besides, who do you know that is totally insane like Beth was?"

"Well Luna looks like she's totally insane but I'm not letting Jeff touch her with a twenty foot pole." James sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Maybe we're looking at this the wrong way. Maybe instead of finding someone that's already as insane as Jeff, maybe we could try to find somebody who that can be made as insane as Jeff is."

Stacy nodded. "Now there's an idea. But where will we find somebody like that."

"I don't know. That's why we have to go hunting."

"James! Stacy!" Jeff yelled. "Do you want some smoked Jack? Or how about some Crispy Tiffany?" He cackled loudly and started rolling around on the ground.

James and Stacy watched him in amusement. "I pity the poor girl we're going to pick for him," James said. "I really, really do."

"Quit lying sweetheart. You don't pity anyone."

"Yeah, well I would if I had human emotions." James got up and pulled Stacy up to her feet. "Come on, the night's still young. Let's party."


	4. Chapter 4

"Melina, sweetheart, you need to get out of bed. You have school in an hour."

Melina only groaned back at her foster mom Rebecca. She did not want to get up and go to school today. Kelly had kept her up way too late talking on the phone. She loved her best friend to death but the blonde talked way too much for her own good. "I don't want to go," she complained.

Rebecca grinned and pulled the covers away so Melina couldn't hide beneath them. "I know but you have to sweetheart. Now come on. Shawn's downstairs making pancakes."

Normally Melina jumped right out of bed at the mention of Shawn's pancakes. She didn't always get along with her foster dad, but he could cook like nobody's business. But today it was all she could do to pull herself out of bed and throw some old clothes on. When she was tired she started thinking about her parents and doing that only led to her feeling depressed and lonely. Her parents had been killed in a car crash about a year and a half ago, and she still wasn't quite over it. She doubted she would ever be over it completely.

Shawn was doing his best to get his real kids Cameron and Cheyanne fed and ready, so Melina went ahead and served herself the food. "Do you need a ride to school today?" Shawn asked her as he tried to convince Cheyanne that her pancake had to be eaten by her, not the dog.

Melina shook her head. "I'm walking with Kelly."

The doorbell rang at that moment. "Speak of the devil," Melina said to herself. She took her plate with her as she went to answer the door. Kelly was indeed at the door and their other friend Brooke Adams. "Oooh pancakes!" Kelly said happily.

Melina quickly moved her plate out of the way before her food could get stolen. "Uh uh. Mine. You get your own."

Kelly pouted as she and Brooke came in. "Your no fun."

"Well I was up till three in the morning because somebody doesn't know when to shut up and let people get some sleep."

Brooke laughed as Kelly rolled her eyes and went to the kitchen. "I don't think you got through to her."

Melina shook her head. "Nobody gets through to that girl. She's been like that for years now." She and Brooke followed Kelly into the kitchen. "Kelly, why are you always eating our food?" Cameron asked. "Don't your parents feed you?"

"Cameron!" Shawn scolded. "There's plenty of food to go around."

Kelly giggled. "My parents are out of town for the week Cam. There's nobody there to feed me."

"And you can't even trust your own cooking," Brooke added.

"Exactly. That's why I steal everybody else's food."

_That and your kind of a pig_, Melina thought to herself. She and Kelly finished up their food and then left for school. Brooke and Kelly started talking about the pep rally that was scheduled for that afternoon but Melina wasn't really excited about it. She wasn't a cheerleader like Brooke and Kelly and she could care less about the sports teams. She used to care a little bit when she dated Dave Batista, who was the quarterback of the football team, but they had broken up several months ago because she had refused to sleep with him. She had thought about doing it, but he kept trying to rush her so she had just dumped him completely. She didn't put up with that kind of crap.

A black car cruised slowly up the street and Melina could see the driver looking at them. A sudden chill went down her spine. "That guy is watching us," she said nervously.

Kelly and Brooke looked over at the black car. "EW, it's probably some pervert," Kelly complained. "Make him go away Melina."

Melina glared at her. "What am I supposed to do Kelly? I don't have anything to hit him with!"

Brooke grinned. "I'll take care of this," she said with a grin. She leaned over and exposed some of her cleavage. "Hey perv, like what you see?" she yelled loudly. "Yeah, you can look but you can't touch because my daddy's the sheriff!"

Melina hit her. "Brooke! What the hell are you doing?"

The car pulled over to the side of the road and the driver's side door actually opened. "Oh God, run!" Melina exclaimed. She grabbed Brooke and Kelly by the hands and the three of them took off as fast as they could. They ran the rest of the way to school, not noticing they hadn't been followed and also not knowing that the man in question was a lot worse than the standard pervert.

XXXXXXXX

James got back in the car and grinned at Stacy. The three girls had been rather amusing. "That was fun."

Stacy rolled her eyes. "I thought we were looking for Jeff's new girl, not looking for teenagers to torment."

"Oh but I did find somebody for Jeff," James informed her. "I think that black haired one will be good for him. What was her name again?" He had to stop and think for a minute. "Oh yeah, Melina. That was her name. Yeah, she'll be good for him."

"Why her?"

"Because she was the only one of the three that didn't look like a dumb bimbo." He reached into his pocket for his cell phone. "Now that we've got that done, it's time to call Mark and--wait, where's my phone?"

XXXXXXXXX

"Haha, I have James's phone," Jeff sang under his breath. He had taken it upon himself to steal it for no good reason. "I have it and I'll never give it back because I'm evil Jeff now!" He started messing around with it and ended up dialing the third number that was on the speed dial.

"Hello?" Mark's gruff voice growled.

"Marky!" Jeff said happily. "How ya doin? I'm bored so you have to talk to me."

"Jeff?" Mark said in disbelief. "How in the hell did you get my number?"

"I stole James's phone." Jeff picked up his knife and examined it closely. Then he looked down at the girl that was tied up in front of him. Her name was Madison and she had been screaming until he cut her tongue out with a pair of scissors. Then he had given the tongue to Umaga, who ate it and ran off. That had been really gross and it made Jeff decide that he would not trust the Samoan savage near any of his body parts. "Nobody will play with me Marky. Dwayne and Miz are sleeping and Cactus is pretending to be Dude Love again and Roxxi won't come away from her tarot cards."

"Who's Roxxi?"

"The Voodoo Queen. We're staying with her."

"And where does she live?"

Jeff's eyes widened. "Hey, none of that now you bastard! You can't trick me like that. If you were here I'd stab you again for that." He took the knife and chopped three of Madison's fingers off. She tried to scream and that made him laugh. "Now see what I did? I had to cut Madison's fingers off because I can't get you."

"I will find you Jeff," Mark said dangerously. "And when I do, we're going to have ourselves a little confrontation."

"Blah, blah, blah!" Jeff said as he rolled his eyes. "You know, I don't know why you're still mad at me. Sure I killed Trish and then I stabbed you with a unicorn and tossed you out a window, but that's in the past Marky! This is the here and now. And the reality of the here and now is that I'm an orphan and it sucks. I'm going to ask Roxxi if she'll bring my family back as zombies. Zombies are cool. They eat brains you know."

Mark was silent for a good couple of minutes. "Why are we having this conversation?" he finally asked. "Why would you even call me? I don't have the patience to hear about the weird ass thoughts that go on in your brain."

Jeff pouted his lips. "You're mean Mark. I'm going to tell James you're mean."

"Go ahead and do that. I hope he tries to do something about it. He can't take on the whole Ministry."

Jeff began bouncing up and down. "You have a ministry? Can I join?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"You're annoying."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not and you can't argue with me because I'm the baby here, so there!" Jeff stuck out his tongue and hung up the phone. "Mean Mark can't tell me what to do. I'll get in his little group whether he likes it or not." He looked down at Madison again. "God, why did I pick you? You're not as fun as you look." He stabbed her in the throat and sliced all the way down past her belly button. "There, that's better." He got up and opened the door so Umaga could come back in. "You can eat the rest of her," he told the Samoan Bulldozer. His eyes widened and he quickly ran back and scooped up the fingers he had chopped off. "Except for these. You can't eat these. These are going in Miz's lunch."

Umaga cocked his head to the side and then let out a primal scream.

Jeff gave the man a thumbs up. "Right on brother." He had no idea what the scream was supposed to mean, but he would work with it. Besides, he had a Chick Magnet's day to ruin, so until that was accomplished, nothing else mattered.


	5. Chapter 5

Mark stared at the quiet suburban house in front of him. There was something about it that really annoyed him. Maybe it was the white picket fence. Maybe it was the bright colored flowers that were in the garden. Or maybe it was the mailbox that actually said the name of the family: Delaney. He didn't know which one of these factors bothered him the most, but at the moment, he had the extreme urge to kill this family. But before he got to that, he had one question to ask. "Do any of you know a Roxxi?"

Christian frowned. "Who?"

"Roxxi. The Voodoo Queen. I heard James has his little family staying with her and I want to know who she is."

Raven grinned. "Roxxi Laveaux. I remember her. James, Stacy and I met her during Spring Break a few years ago. She lives down in New Orleans."

Mark nodded. "Okay. That's where we're going next then." He pulled the hood of his black robe over his head. "Are you guys ready to get going then? I'm ready for some bloodshed."

The others pulled heir hoods up. "Hey, bloodshed is what I live for," Gangrel said. His lips and fangs were stained with blood. Mark used to always be bothered by that but now he was just used to it. Gangrel was a messy eater. _I'll have to ask him if he still tries to really bite people like he used to,_ Mark noted to himself.

Mark, Raven and Christian walked towards the front door while Gangrel and Glenn went around the back. Mark raised his foot and kicked the door open. The Delaney family, who had been sitting innocently in the living room, cried out in alarm. Mark grabbed Mr. Delaney by the neck and hauled the smaller man up in the air. "Look what we have here boys! Look at all these toys just waiting to be played with."

Mrs. Delaney grabbed her teenaged son and daughter and pushed them towards the stairs. Raven and Christian grabbed her by the hair and yanked her back. "Colin go!" she screamed. "Take Janelle and go!"

Glenn and Gangrel chased after Colin and Janelle as they ran upstairs. Raven and Christian dragged Mrs. Delaney into another room so they could have their fun in peace. That left Mark all alone with Mr. Delaney. "Please," Mr. Delaney managed to choke out despite the grip Mark had on his neck. "Please don't hurt my family."

Mark rolled his eyes. "Hey, if we planned on doing that, we wouldn't have broken in here in the first place." He dragged Mr. Delaney into the kitchen. Sitting on the counter was a thing of butcher knives. "Aw, it was like you were expecting me or something." He grabbed one of the knives and pinned one of Mr. Delaney's hands against the wall. "Now this might hurt a little," he warned.

Mr. Delaney screamed in pain as Mark drove the knife into the palm of his hand. Mark hit him in the face so the man would be disoriented enough to stay still while he grabbed another knife. Once the knife was in his hands, he pinned Mr. Delaney's other hand to the wall using the knife. "I normally use railroad spikes when I do this crucifying thing," he told Mr. Delaney, who probably wasn't really listening because of the amount of pain he was in. "But I don't actually have any with me at the moment, so I'm improvising here."

"Please stop," Mr. Delaney begged. "Please, what do you want? I'll give you anything!"

Mark grinned. "I don't want anything from you except your suffering." He grabbed Mr. Delaney by the hair and made the man look into his eyes. "I am the devil incarnate. And I am here to do my work." He released his grip and took out another knife. "Now let's see how many cuts it takes before you bleed out completely."

XXXXXXXXX

AJ took yet another drink from his coffee. He had been working almost non-stop for the past two days and he was about ready to collapse. "All the words on this paper are starting to blur together," he complained.

Kurt looked up at him. "Don't tell me you're tired."

"Don't tell me you're not. We've been chasing leads and reading reports for two days and I'm exhausted. I've listened to people claim he's been seen in over a dozen states but none of it is getting us any closer to actually finding him."

"So what do you suggest we do?" Kurt asked.

AJ sighed. "First let's get some fucking sleep. We're not going to be able to do a damn bit of good if we're not refreshed and wide awake. And then we go follow the one real lead that might actually get us to Jeff."

"And who would that be?"

"Mark. Come on, think about it--Jeff killed his niece and then damn near killed the poor bastard himself. He said he was quitting to get a job that would allow him to be with his family more but Sara says she hasn't seen him for days."

Kurt's eyes widened. "You think he's looking for Jeff."

AJ nodded. "If anybody can track down Hardy, it's him. We just need to follow him and he'll lead us straight to the rabid dog."

Kurt grinned. "I like the way you think AJ." He stood up. "Okay. Let's go get some sleep and in the morning we'll tail Mark. If you're theory is right, we'll have our hands on Jeff in no time."

XXXXXXXX

Jeff bounced around in his seat. James was driving him somewhere but he wasn't saying where. "Am I in trouble? Did Miz tell you about those fingers I put in his sandwich?"

James looked at Jeff in disgust. "You put fingers in Miz's sandwich? Why would you do that?"

"It was funny," Jeff said innocently. "But now I think he's going to try to blow me up or something."

"Well it serves you right for trying to feed him body parts," James muttered. "That is absolutely disgusting." He pulled into the parking lot of a high school. There was some sort of football game going on there. "Did Beth ever tell you how come she was insane?"

Jeff looked at him in confusion. "I thought she was just born that way, just like me."

James chuckled and shook his head. "No, she wasn't born that way. It was actually Raven who did it. The first time I laid eyes on her was when she was fourteen. I was with Christian and Raven at the time. It started out as a joke. Raven was just going to screw around with her a little and mess with her mind. But he just went overboard and started stalking her and terrorizing her and doing everything he possibly could to hurt her. He killed her family, her friends, her boyfriend and eventually she went insane and never came back from it. He left her alive just because he figured she would suffer some sort of breakdown and kill herself instead. But then a few months before I hooked her up with you, I found her again. She was still completely insane, but she had turned into the crazy killer we all knew and loved. She became the very thing that had destroyed the old her but she lacked Raven's logic and sense of the world around her. Honestly, I think she forgot that she was anything but a killer."

Jeff cocked his head to the side. "Why are you telling me all this?"

"Because I know you miss Beth. I miss her too. And we can't replace her because she was special. But what we can do is make someone new. It can be a new game. Let's see if we can make some other girl go as insane as Beth went. Let's break her down and then you can make her yours." James gave Jeff a serious look. "This will require some patience though and it'll work better if you don't slaughter everyone at once."

Jeff pouted. "I was with you until you said that. I like the slaughter. Jeff slaughters very well."

"Yes you do, but when it comes to this girl, you shouldn't do it all at once. If you do it all at once, she's either not going to break the right way or she's going to fight back. If you do it right though…"

"I get a cookie?" Jeff said hopefully. He was really hungry at the moment and cookies sounded good.

James sighed. "You will get a whole bunch of cookies. How does that sound?"

"Yay for cookies! Now why are we here? Is she here? New girl here?"

"Yeah, she's here," James said as they got out of the car. "I've been watching her for you and her two friends were supposed to be dragging her here tonight."

Jeff giggled happily and let James lead him to the football stadium. The strong smell of food overpowered him, temporarily getting him off track. "I want nachos," he whined. "Buy me nachos James."

"I don't want to buy you nachos," James said. "You always get more cheese on your face and on the people around you than you get in your mouth."

Jeff glared at him. "Nachos! I want the nachos!"

"Okay, okay!" James stopped and bought him some nachos. "There, are you happy now?"

"Yup!" Jeff said cheerfully. He licked the cheese right out of the container.

"No, you dip the chip in the cheese and then eat the chip!" James snapped. "You don't just lick the cheese. That is how it always gets in your hair."

Jeff grinned and started eating the nachos the right way (while James was looking anyway). "So where's this girl anyway?"

James stopped and pointed to a girl that was sitting all alone at the top of the bleachers. "Her name is Melina." He patted Jeff on the back. "Try to make a good first impression, will you? I'm going to sit down here and watch the game."

Jeff grinned and started climbing the stairs towards Melina. "Oh I'll make a good impression all right. I'll make her scream. She screams, he screams, they all scream for Jeffey!"


	6. Chapter 6

Melina really wasn't paying attention to the football game that she was supposed to be watching. In all honesty, she hadn't wanted to come and watch this stupid thing. She would rather be sitting alone in her room and be doing something that was more interesting for her. But Brooke and Kelly had whined about how she never did anything fun and Shawn and Rebecca were convinced that she didn't go out and socialize enough. What none of seemed to get was that she didn't like going out and socializing with people. Even though it had been a year since her parents had died in that car crash, the other people at school still looked at her as the orphan and they continued to feel sorry for her. It drove her insane. She didn't want people's pity anymore; she just wanted to be left alone.

She didn't realize anybody was sitting next to her until a thing of nachos was shoved in front of her. "Nacho?" a guy who looked way too old to be a student offered. He had bluish/purplish hair and there was something about him that set Melina's guard up immediately. Something about this guy made her feel like she was in danger.

"Uh…no thank you," she said as politely as she could. She looked back out towards the field, hoping that if she just ignored him he would go away. Unfortunately, he wasn't getting the message.

"I want the blue team to win," he said. "I like blue. Jeffey likes blue. I'm Jeff by the way."

"That's nice," Melina said nervously. What the hell was this guy's deal? Why was he bothering her? She got up and tried to walk away. "I gotta go find my friends," she said quickly, even though that was a complete and total lie. Kelly and Brooke were down on the sidelines doing their cheerleader thing. She couldn't sit with them until after the game.

"Don't walk away Melina," Jeff said. "You don't want to do that."

Melina stopped dead in her tracks. "How do you know my name?" she asked.

He licked the cheese right out of the container. "I like cheese, I like cheese, I like cheese hey hey hey hey!"

"How do you know my name?" she asked again, only this time her voice was louder and angrier. "Answer me!"

He shrugged. "I'm psychic."

"Bullshit. I want the truth and I want it now!" She looked around, hoping that she was talking loud enough to make some people start looking over at them. Unfortunately, everybody else seemed to absorbed in the game to notice that this creep was harassing her.

Jeff raised his eyebrow. "Do you really want to know the truth?" He grabbed her by the wrists and pulled her closer to him. "I don't think you could handle the truth. Not yet anyway. My mind is a twisted little carnival of nasty things." He grinned insanely. "I like carnivals. I want to go to a carnival. You should take me to one."

Melina winced as she tried to pull herself free from his grip. "OW, you're hurting me!" she whined. And he really was hurting her. His grip was so tight that it was cutting off the circulation in her hands. "Let go."

He shook his head. "You think this hurts. Oh honey, you have no idea--"

"Hey! Let her go!"

Melina nearly cried out in relief as the school guidance counselor Mr. Dreamer came to her aid. Jeff's grip loosened just enough that she could yank herself free. She quickly ran down the bleachers and left the stadium as fast as possible. Her legs felt like pudding and she felt sick to her stomach. That encounter had really rattled her. She ran all the way home and then she collapsed on the hallway floor, which was where Rebecca found her.

"Melina!" Rebecca yelled. She knelt down beside the scared teenaged girl. "What happened? What are you doing back here? Why are your wrists bruised honey?"

"This guy was harassing me at the game," Melina explained. She looked down at her wrists and noticed that Jeff really had left bruises. "He was some creepy older guy." She shook her head. "He started grabbing at me but Mr. Dreamer interfered and I ran back here."

"Oh honey," Rebecca said. She looked very upset as she helped Melina up to her feet. "Come on, I'll get you some ice for your wrists. I'll talk to the school first thing Monday morning. This is not acceptable at all."

Melina nodded. Now that she was safe at home, she felt much better now. Little did she know that that feeling wasn't going to last very long. It wasn't going to last very long at all.

XXXXXXXXXXX

James sighed as he drove himself and Jeff back towards Roxxi's mansion. "Well the good news is that you probably scared the hell out of her. The bad news is you got us kicked out before I got to see who won the game."

Jeff shrugged. "Sorry. That one dude was mean to me. I think we should go back so I can kill him.

"Patience Jeff. We'll get him soon enough. Right now you need to wipe your face off. You got cheese on it."

Jeff wiped his face off with the back of his hand. "I like cheese."

"Yes, I'm very well aware of that," James said with a nod. He sighed and shook his head. "What am I going to do with you Jeff? I swear, you're regressing back to your childhood or something."

"Am not," Jeff denied. He stuck his tongue out and flipped James the bird.

James's phone rang and he answered it. "Yo."

"There are a bunch of jabronis back in the swamp behind Roxxi's house," Dwayne informed. "Four dumbass teenagers that don't know how to stay off private property."

"Uh huh. What does that have to do with me exactly?" James asked.

"Are you on your way home?"

"Yeah."

"Good. When you get here, come back to the swamp and hunt these idiots with us."

"Who's "us" exactly?"

"Me, Miz and Cactus."

"Why isn't Roxxi joining you on this hunt?"

"She's cutting off rooster heads and pouring the blood in the jar. And Stacy and the other chicks are watching _Thelma and Louise_.

James shook his head. "Jesus, that's just wrong. How can they watch that movie?"

Dwayne sighed. "I asked them that same question and they looked at me like they wanted to kill me. So I just left them alone. I don't want to get killed by a bunch of pissed off females."

"Alright. Jeff and I will be back in a few minutes. I'll see you then." He hung up his phone.

"What's going on?" Jeff asked.

James grinned. "How do you feel about going hunting in that swamp?"

"You mean I finally get to go in it?"

"Only if you promise to stay by my side and not run off."

Jeff groaned. "You're no fun. Hunter would let me wander off."

"No he wouldn't and you know that," James said in exasperation. He was starting to lose his patience with Jeff. "I swear Jeff, if you try to wander off, I will put a leash on you and you'll stay on it until I can trust you."

Jeff pouted. "You're no fun. These people better be worth hunting or I'm going to kick you."

James rolled his eyes. _And I hope these people are worth it too because I'll strangle you if you kick me._


	7. Chapter 7

"Why did I let you people drag me out here?" Francine Fournier complained. She smacked some of the mosquitoes away. "It's hot, it's dirty and I don't want to be here. Let's just go home."

Cody Rhodes rolled his eyes at his bitchy cousin. She had not stopped complaining ever since they had set foot in this swamp. "Would you shut up?" he asked. "It's not that bad out here."

"It's not that bad? Look at where we are! We can barely see even with these flashlights and it smells like something died out here."

Her friend Dawn Marie nodded. "I have to agree with her on this Cody. The smell is pretty bad."

Cody's friend Ted DiBiase rolled his eyes. "This swamp belongs to the Voodoo Queen. It probably smells like this because she buries the bodies out here."

"Oh God!" Francine groaned. "That is a stupid urban legend and you know it!"

"It is not an urban legend!" Ted said defensively. "Roxxi Laveux does her rituals out here and she dances around all naked and stuff."

Dawn slapped him on the arm. "That's why you really dragged us out here, isn't it? You just wanted to see a woman dancing around naked while doing spells!"

Ted looked confused. "What, you're saying you don't?"

Cody laughed as both girls smacked him. "Dude, you are so stupid."

Francine looked around and shook her head. "Come on, there's no Voodoo Queen here. Let's get out of here. I feel like something is watching us."

"Something or someone?" Ted asked in amusement.

"Does it fucking matter?" she snapped. "I want to leave and I want to leave now!"

"Then go!" Cody yelled. He was tired of her whining. "Go wait in the car until we're done looking around."

"I'm not going by myself. What if there is something out there and it attacks me?"

"Then you'll die and I'll rejoice."

Dawn sighed and grabbed Francine by the hand. "Come on, I'll go with you."

Cody and Ted just watched as the two girls walked away. "Good riddance," Ted muttered. He looked at his friend. "Why did we bring them anyway?"

Cody shrugged. "Honestly, I have no idea. Come on. I want to see if we can find this Roxxi chick before it gets too late. My mom will kill me if she knows I'm out here right now."

XXXXXXX

Dwayne looked at Cactus and Miz. The three of them had been watching and following the four teenagers for awhile now. "Is it me, or are these people really annoying?" he asked.

Miz nodded. "They're more annoying than I am."

"Hold on, let's not go that far," Dwayne scolded. In his opinion, there was nobody more annoying than Miz.

"Fuck you," Miz snapped.

"Guys, these people are going in two different directions," Cactus reminded them. "We have to follow both groups."

Dwayne sighed. "You two follow the boys. I'll go after the girls." He started heading after Francine and Dawn, ignoring Miz's protest about being the Chick Magnet and how that should allow him to go after the girls. Dwayne didn't care how smooth Miz thought he was; he wouldn't be able to get both girls.

"God, I can't believe this crap," Francine complained. "I have no idea where we are right now."

Dawn looked around. "I think the car was more that way."

"Are you sure?"

"It's worth a shot, isn't it?"

"JEFF! JEFF! DAMN IT, PUT DOWN THAT SNAKE! THAT THING IS POISONOUS!"

Dwayne groaned. So much for his hunting idea. Knowing his luck, he was going to get roped into trying to catch the psycho and avoid getting bitten by a pissed off poisonous snake. It was not his idea of a good time.

Jeff came barreling into the woods like a bat out of hell. He tossed the snake at Francine and Dawn, who screamed in surprise. It bounced off of Dawn and bit her on the leg as it fell to the ground. She screamed in pain and fell over.

"Dawn!" Francine yelled. She knelt down to check on her friend, which proved to be her fatal mistake. Jeff speared her to the ground which such force that the two of them went rolling through the muddy bayou.

"Jesus Christ," Dwayne muttered. This was not exactly what he had in mind when he went out to hunt tonight. He watched the poisonous snake as it slithered away. Dawn was still on the ground. She was clutching her bite. If she didn't get a tourniquet on her leg soon, she was going to be in deep shit.

"Help me," she begged as Dwayne approached her. "Please help me."

Dwayne kicked her in the face just as James found them. She slumped over, knocked out cold from the blow. He took of his belt and used it as a tourniquet for her leg. They would have to help her get the venom out when they got back in the mansion. They wouldn't be able to play with her if she died from the poison.

"Where did Jeff go?" James asked. He was completely out of breath. "Does he still have the snake?"

Dwayne shook his head. "He threw it at this bitch. Then he tackled her friend and I don't know where he is now."

"I'm here!" Jeff said cheerfully. He came back towards them with an unconscious Francine slumped over his shoulder. He was covered from head to toe in mud. "I got the girl."

"Did the snake bite you?" James asked.

"No."

"Then you're damn lucky. Now go hose yourself. Victoria just got the carpet cleaned. She'll kill you if you track that mud inside."

Dwayne picked up Dawn. "Miz and Cactus are tracking the two boys that were with these girls. You might want to go find them. You know how Miz tends to ruin these things."

James rolled his eyes. "Believe me, I know. That's why I usually don't take him out to do stuff like this."

XXXXXXXX

Mark took a drink of his beer. He and the other Ministry members were at a club, living it up a little before they left for New Orleans in a few hours. If they drove almost nonstop, they could get there within one or two days.

"I'll be damned. I never thought I would see you in a place like this again."

He looked over and saw his ex-girlfriend Tammy Sytch sitting down next to him. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Drifting aimlessly, like usual. What about you? Aren't you supposed to be a good guy now? Why are you here with the Ministry?"

"The good guy thing didn't work out," he admitted. "So it's back to the old ways for good this time."

"Does Sara know about this change of heart?" It was easy to hear the disdain in her voice as she said Sara's name.

"She doesn't know a damn thing."

Tammy smirked. "So why the change of heart? Did you just wake up one morning and realized you were sick of living the lie you built for yourself out of the sake of love?"

"It was a little more complicated than that." He told her everything that had been going on, starting with Trish getting kidnapped by Jeff and ending with the reformation of the Ministry and the upcoming trip to New Orleans.

Tammy took a moment to take that all in. "I've got a suggestion for you Mark," she finally said. "Instead of being all pissed at James and Jeff, maybe you should thank them."

He raised his eyebrows. "Thank them? For what?"

"For throwing things into perspective for you. If all this shit hadn't gone down, would you be back to doing what you did best?"

He shook his head. "No, probably not."

"See? It all worked out, even if it did piss you off." She ran her hand through his hair. "Besides, I hate knowing that you and James are at odds. As dysfunctional as your relationship is, he's the best friend you've got."

Mark took another drink of his beer. "Why are you sitting here telling me all this? I thought you never wanted to see me again."

"I missed you," she confessed. "It killed me knowing you were with Sara, living some fucking sham because she poisoned your mind. She never knew the real you."

"And you do?" he asked in amusement.

"James and I are the only ones who really do." She kissed him softly. "That's why we both drive you nuts. You can't stand having anyone figure you out."

He growled and pulled her in for a harder kiss. As infuriating as she could be, he had kind of missed Tammy. There was rarely a dull moment for her, which was what he needed now to forget about the dullness of Sara. "Come on," he growled. He got up and started dragging her out of the club. "Do you have somewhere for us to go?"

She grinned. "I've got a room at the hotel across the street."

"Perfect." He picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder. He didn't even bother to tell the others he was leaving. It was none of their damn business. Besides, they were smart boys; they could figure it out by themselves.


	8. Chapter 8

AJ shifted around in his seat. He and Kurt had been carefully following Mark for the past couple of hours. Kurt was driving because he was much better at following somebody without being noticed. Mark was currently in a van with four unidentified men and one unidentified woman. "I wonder who that chick is."

Kurt looked over at him. "We're on a job and all you care about is Mark's new eye candy?"

"Well I wonder who the dudes are too, but seeing how Mark's married to Sara and he was all over that girl right before they started driving…"

"People have affairs AJ," Kurt said in exasperation. "Married men aren't always happy with what they have at home so they have to look somewhere else to get what they want."

"You say that like you know from personal experience or something," AJ muttered.

"I do know from personal experience, thank you very much."

That was hardly surprising. AJ had always suspected Kurt of cheating on Karen. But actually hearing it still made his blood boil. He wanted to strangle Kurt for being too stupid that he had a perfectly wonderful wife at home.

AJ's phone rang. "Hello?" he said as he answered it.

"Hi AJ," Karen said.

"Hi Karen," AJ said. He tried not to sound as happy as he was. Even though Kurt was cheating on her, AJ didn't want to find out what his partner would do if he knew how much he loved Karen.

"Why is she calling you?" Kurt asked.

"Because you never answer your phone," AJ replied. Which was the truth. Kurt rarely ever answered his cell phone, especially if he was working. AJ turned his attention back to his conversation with Karen. "Are you okay? Is anything wrong?"

"I just wanted to check on you," she said. "I know how Kurt tends to lead you into dangerous situations and I wanted to make sure you were okay."

_She's more concerned about me than she is about him_, AJ realized. The thought made him feel absolutely giddy. "We're fine," he assured her. He made sure to add the "we're" so Kurt wouldn't get suspicious. "We're perfectly safe at the moment."

"Kurt's with you isn't he?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I won't keep you long then. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Can you call me back when you get a moment alone?"

"I sure will," he assured her.

"Okay. Bye AJ."

"Bye." He hung up the phone. "She was just checking on us," he lied to Kurt. "She says that she and kids send their love to you."

"Uh huh," Kurt said without any interest whatsoever.

AJ rolled his yes and looked out the window. Kurt could obsess over Mark and Jeff and the whole job if he wanted to. AJ preferred to think about Karen for the moment and what life would be like if Kurt was out of the way for good.

XXXXXXXXX

"Help me!" Ted screamed. "Somebody help me!" He was hanging upside down from a set of chains attached to the ceiling. He had no idea where the hell the others were at the moment. He hadn't seen the girls since they had stormed off and he hadn't seen Cody since they had been ambushed in the swamp. He hoped they were okay. "Please help me! Let me down from here!"

The door opened and a strange woman with purple hair came into the room. "Must you scream so loud?" she asked as she walked towards him. She was jerking her upper body all around as she did it, so it looked like she was having some sort of seizure. "You're disturbing my rituals."

Ted gulped. "Rituals?"

She cocked her head to the side. "I am the Voodoo Queen Roxxi Laveaux. Wasn't I the one you and your friends were seeking?"

_Oh God, I am so dead_, Ted thought to himself. "Please," he begged. "I'm sorry we trespassed on your property. We didn't know what we were doing."

She ran his fingers over his chest. "It's too late for that now. What's done is done. Nothing can be changed now." She scratched her nails down his chest, making him cry out in pain. "You and your friends sealed your fate." She licked the blood she had drawn and grinned. "And as your executioner's we've decided how you die."

Ted shook his head. "Please--"

Roxxi put her hand over his mouth to silence him. "You'll be begging for death by the time I'm done with you," she promised him. "I guarantee you that."

XXXXXXXX

Jeff watched Victoria fill the syringe with the strange clear liquid. "Are you sure that stuff is going to work?" he asked.

Victoria nodded. "I've used it plenty of times before. She'll be forced to stay awake and she'll feel everything, but she won't be able to move."

He grinned and looked down at Francine. She was strapped down to the cold metal table by her wrists and ankles. She had finally stopped screaming, but that was only because she had screamed herself completely hoarse. "Good," he said cheerfully. "I want her to feel everything. It'll be more fun that way."

Miz, Cactus and Natalya were also with them. They had decided to come and watch Jeff play something that he had never played before: doctor. "Why do I have the feeling this is going to turn out disgusting?" Miz asked.

"Because Jeff's got a really sharp knife," Cactus replied. "When doesn't that turn out gross?"

Jeff giggled as Victoria injected the syringe into Francine's arm. Francine let out a moan and more tears began to leak out of her eyes. "Stop," she said hoarsely. "Don't hurt me."

"Begging isn't going to do any good sweetheart," Natalya informed her. "Jeff is not sane enough to comprehend what the word stop means."

"I can too comprehend it," Jeff said defensively. "I just choose not to." He took his knife and carefully began to cut into Francine's right side. "Kidney, where are you?" he asked playfully. "I want a kidney. I need a kidney."

Francine sobbed in pain but that was about all she could do. More and more blood came pouring out as Jeff began to cut around. He had never actually taken a human biology class but he knew the kidneys were somewhere in people's sides. "I can't find it," he complained as he cut even deeper. He actually started putting his fingers inside the hole he had made and started feeling around in there.

"Jeff, do you even know what a kidney looks like?" Victoria asked.

He frowned. "Don't they look like kidney beans? You know, because kidney beans come from kidneys, only the kidneys are bigger?"

Miz shook his head. "Kidney beans don't come from kidneys you doofus!"

"Oh," Jeff said in disappointment. "Oh well then." He moved the knife all the way across Francine's stomach and down to her other side. He could see her insides now and they were really gross. "Oh look, intestine!"

Natalya groaned as Jeff began pulling it out. "Oh God, I think I might be sick."

"Jeff, that's supposed to stay on the inside," Victoria tried to explain.

Jeff ignored her. "Why is this thing so big?" he asked as kept pulling more and more of it out. He had no idea whether it was the small or large intestine he had a hold of. "Aw forget it!" he said. He let go of the intestine and sliced Francine open from the stomach all the way up to her chest. "Her lungs don't look like they're working anymore," he said in disappointment.

"Because she's probably not breathing," Cactus said in a matter of fact voice. "Did you really expect her to be alive after all that?"

"Yes," Jeff said with a pout. He looked down at his wrist (which didn't actually have a watch on it, but he acted like it did). "Crap, I have to go."

"Wait, go where?" Miz asked. "What's more important than cleaning up this mess you made?"

Jeff grinned evilly. "Stalking Melina of course. I have to make sure she knows I haven't forgotten about her. She's going to be mine you know. My new toy princess." He giggled insanely as he skipped out of the room. "Oh I'm off to see the princess, the wonderful princess of Oz…"


	9. Chapter 9

"Melina! Earth to Melina! Are you with us honey?"

Melina snapped out of the daze she had been in. "What? What's going on?"

Kelly and Brooke exchanged looks. The three of them were sitting in the library and they had been trying to work on a criminal justice project until Melina had spaced out. "Is that incident from the football game still bothering you?" Kelly asked. "Because we're still really sorry about that. We would have never made you come if we knew that was going to happen."

Melina shook her head. "It's not your fault. You can't control where all the creeps are going to be at."

"But still, we can't help but feel bad," Brooke said. "God, what if Mr. Dreamer hadn't come along?"

Melina shuddered. She didn't want to think about that. "What are we doing for this project?" she asked, changing the subject. "Isn't this supposed to be about serial killers or something?"

Kelly nodded. "Yeah. Mrs. Carter is morbid like that. I think we should do Jack the Ripper."

Brooke rolled her eyes. "Somebody else is already doing that guy. I want to do something more contemporary, like the Helmsley family."

"Who?" Melina asked.

"Oh come on, you've had to have heard of them. It was this makeshift serial killer family that the FBI chased for forever. Hunter's the inspiration for Jigsaw from Saw and Jeff Hardy is the only one left and he's on the run…"

"Jeff?" Melina repeated. Hearing the name Jeff made her feel uneasy. _Oh come on,_ she told herself. _This is ridiculous. There's no way that the Jeff from the football game is the same Jeff Brooke is talking about now._

Brooke nodded and typed Jeff Hardy's name into Google. A whole bunch of links popped up and she clicked on the first one. The first thing that popped up was a picture of the man called the Rainbow Haired Madman. To Melina's shock and horror, the guy from the football game really was the serial killer who had been terrorizing the country for years.

"Damn, that is one sexy picture of me. I didn't even know I could look that good."

Melina's blood ran cold as the cold metal of a knife was pressed against her throat. Brooke and Kelly gasped in fright as they found themselves face to face with Jeff. "Hi girls," he said cheerfully. He pulled Melina up to her feet, making sure the knife stayed up against her throat. "I guess you know who I am already so there's no need to introduce myself."

"Oh my God, oh my God," Kelly said over and over again. She looked like she had gone into total shock.

Melina was too scared to move. The knife was pressed so tightly against her throat that she could feel it cutting her skin a little bit. Everyone else in the library was standing up and taking notice, but nobody was moving towards her. They obviously thought that if they took one wrong step, she was going to get her throat slit. Hell, for all she knew, she probably would.

"Freeze!" Officer Jarrett shouted as he came into the library. He was the school officer and to Melina's surprise, he actually did carry a gun. "Let the girl go and drop your weapon."

Jeff grinned and yanked on Melina's hair playfully. "Or you'll do what? Shoot me?" He chuckled. "How about you stop concentrating on me and start concentrating on the savage coming at you now? How about that?"

A large wild looking man jumped out from behind one of the bookshelves and pounced on Officer Jarrett. The entire room broke out in pandemonium and people started running out of the room. Soon, the only people left in the room were Jeff, Melina, Kelly, Brooke, the savage and a very mauled Officer Jarrett.

"Other girls should have run, oh they should have run," Jeff muttered. "Umaga! Get them!"

Melina stomped on Jeff's foot and managed to slip out of his grip. "RUN!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. She grabbed Kelly and Brooke and the three of them ran out of the library as fast as they could. "SOMEBODY HELP!" she screamed. "SOMEBODY HELP US!"

Jeff and Umaga quickly caught up with them. Umaga easily grabbed Kelly and Brooke at the same time, and he tossed them over his shoulders without any trouble. Jeff grabbed Melina and slammed her up against the lockers.

"That was not nice," he scolded. "We can't play our game if you keep running away like that."

"What game?" Melina asked desperately. His grip on her this time was even tighter than before. "What are you talking about? Just leave me alone!"

He grinned. "I can't though. I'm all alone and I need a new toy to play with. You're my toy Melina. My special little toy."

"Help!" Kelly suddenly screamed. "Mr. Dreamer! Help!"

Jeff whirled around, his eyes flashing angrily. "You," he growled. He took his knife and threw it as hard as he could. It went right into Mr. Dreamer's throat, who had only just been processing what was going on.

Melina screamed loudly. She felt like she was trapped in some sort of nightmare. She tried to fight her way free again, but this time Jeff lashed out with his fist and it connected with the side of her head. Her head rocked back and smacked against the lockers. Her world started spinning and another shot sent her down in unconsciousness.

XXXXXXXXX

Mark woke up when the car stopped. They had been driving for several hours now and had been making much better time than he had expected. That mostly had to do with Raven's belief that one should drive about forty miles faster than what the speed limit was. "What's going on? Why did we stop here?"

"We're hungry," Christian informed him. "And Tammy said that there's somebody in this diner we need to see."

Mark glared at Tammy. "Did you set something up?"

She grinned. "Maybe. I have been a little texting machine ever since you fell asleep. You have no idea what I've done."

Mark groaned as he got out of the car. He should have known better than to bring the little diabolical bitch with him. She was always scheming and plotting something. But instead of demanding she tell him ahead of time, he went ahead and walked into the diner. And to his surprise, James was sitting at the table nearest to the door.

"Hey buddy," James said cheerfully. He was acting like all the bullshit from before hadn't gone down. "Tammy said you guys were heading down to see me."

Mark glared at him as he sat down. He knew that cheerful tone way too well. "What do you want James?"

James pretended to look innocent. "What makes you think I want something? I just wanted to see you sooner rather than later. I want to make sure we're cool again."

"Don't give me that shit," Mark snapped. "I know you want something."

"Okay, okay, I do want something. How do you feel about playing Daddy?"

Mark just stared at him for a moment. "I hate to break this to you James, but after all the stuff we've done together, I really don't want to pretend I'm your daddy."

James rolled his eyes. "No you idiot! I don't want you to play Daddy to me. I need you to be Jeff's new Daddy."

Now Mark was really thrown for a loop. "What in the blue hell makes you think I want to play Daddy to that psychotic bastard? Are you forgetting what happened the last time he and I were in the same room?"

"Jeff tried to kill Hunter when they first met and then they eventually managed to get along," James pointed out. "Somewhat anyway. Jeff needs somebody to keep him in line and I've been trying, but he knows I have a soft spot for him. He doesn't take me seriously. You he would take seriously. And Tammy could even play mother to him if you two crazy kids are back together."

"You are seriously insane," Mark informed him. He truly meant it too. "You have been spending too much time with Jeff and his insanity has rubbed off on you."

James made a high pitched whining noise, which sounded odd coming from a man his size. "Mark! Stop being difficult! Can't you at least just give it a shot?"

"Yeah Mark, give it a shot," Christian encouraged. He and the others were listening in on the conversation now. "Think about it. We could all be one big happy killer family. Wouldn't that be fun?"

"Yeah Mark, we could be the knife wielding Brady Bunch," Raven added.

Mark glared at them. "Would you people shut up? You're not helping."

James pouted his lips at Mark and just stared at him.

Mark shook his head. "No! Don't you start doing that!"

James just kept staring at him.

"That is not fair. You know I hate that tactic."

James wasn't stopping though.

"Fine!" Mark finally agreed. "I'll give the Daddy thing a shot. But if he stabs me again, I'm killing you for it. I am not even joking."

James grinned. "Sweet. This is going to be fun."

Mark rolled his eyes. "Maybe it will be for you. Your version of fun is very warped."

Tammy shook her head. "Honey, your version of fun is warped too."

"Yeah, but his is more warped."

"Is not!" James said defensively.

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

Gangrel shook his head. "Are you guys going to do this the rest of the trip?"

Mark and James glared at each other. "You are so not winning this war Marky," James declared.

Mark just chuckled. "We'll see about that Lawson. We'll see about that."


	10. Chapter 10

Cody watched Ted's body dangle upside down with a sick sense of dread. His best friend was missing his eyes, his tongue and he had stab wounds all over his body. He didn't want to be looking, but he couldn't force his eyes to look away. Dawn was clinging to him, naked, wet and freezing cold. She had been dunked over and over again in ice water and then left here in this cold room. He would be shocked if she didn't catch hypothermia.

The door opened and Brooke Adams and Kelly Kelly were tossed into the room. He recognized them because they went to his school. Both girls were crying and shaking. "We should have ran," Kelly sobbed. "We should have ran. We were so stupid."

"We couldn't leave Melina behind," Brooke replied. "She was our friend."

"Well staying for her didn't do a whole lot of good, now did it?" Kelly shrieked hysterically. "Now not only does Jeff have her here, but we're here too! What are we going to do now?"

Cody cleared his throat and looked back at Ted's body. "We die," he said simply. He didn't want to say that, but he couldn't help himself. It was the truth as he knew it. And if the old saying was true, the truth shall set him free.

XXXXXXXX

Melina was still unconscious when they got back to Roxxi's mansion so Jeff laid her down on the bed until she woke up. Not having anything better to do, he put in _The Nightmare Before Christmas._ He had already seen it over two hundred times, but he still liked watching it over and over again. It was one of his favorite movies. "This is Halloween, this is Halloween," he sang under his breath. He grabbed a cherry Tootsie Roll Pop and sat down cross legged on the foot of his bed.

"Jeff?" Roxxi said as she poked her head into the room. Her face was smeared with black paint and she was holding a giant wooden staff in her hands. "I'm going out to the graves to do a spell. Can you be a good boy and not destroy my house?"

"Shush Roxxi," Jeff scolded. "You'll ruin the movie."

"Jeff…"

"Okay, okay, I'll be good. Now be quiet!" He hated it when people talked during his movie.

Roxxi left and Jeff kept watching the movie. It was one of the few things that could keep his attention for any real length of time. Eventually though, Melina began to stir and then she woke up.

"Help me!" she screamed as she tried to jump off the bed. "Somebody help me!"

"Would you stop screaming?" Jeff asked. He was starting to become very annoyed with his new toy. He grabbed her and pulled her into his lap. "I can't hear the movie when you scream."

She kept trying to struggle even though his grip was too tight to escape. "Please don't hurt me," she begged. "Please, what do you want from me?"

"I want you to shut the hell up," he growled. "If I miss Kidnap the Sandy Claws because of you then one of us is going to lose a body part. And let me tell you something: it ain't going to be me."

Melina went quiet and they watched the rest of the movie in peace. Jeff hummed along with the songs and played with her hair the entire time. He didn't care that she flinched every few minutes or she didn't hum along like Beth did. The movie put him in good spirits, just like it always did. "See, was that so bad?" he asked as he took the DVD out of the player.

Melina reluctantly shook her head. She looked confused and scared to death. "Where am I?" she asked quietly.

"Your new home," he answered. He grabbed the Candyland and brought it back to the bed. "Play with me," he demanded.

"This isn't my home," she insisted. "Please, let me go. I won't tell anybody I swear."

He ignored her. Maybe if he quit responding then she would shut up and play with him. "You're being the green dude," he informed her. "And I'm being the blue dude."

"Are you even listening to a word I say?"

"No."

Melina defiantly knocked the game off the bed, making cards and pieces go all over the floor. Jeff paused for a second before sighing out of exasperation. "Okay, that was just plain rude," he informed her. He pounced on her and got her pinned down underneath him. "If you're not going to be play nice then I'm not going to be nice either."

She fought ferociously to get him off of her until his lips met with her. He chuckled inwardly as she froze completely. He liked having that effect on girls. Sure she wasn't kissing back, but that was okay. She would learn to eventually.

He broke the kiss long enough to slip his shirt off. "This game is much better than Candyland," he informed her. He giggled as her eyes widened. "Don't give me that look silly. It's not going to hurt. Much."

She began fighting him again as he ripped her clothes off. That only egged him on even more. He liked challenges when he could muster up the patience to deal with them. It was fun to break the fighters down and weaken them to where they could only scream and beg. But the thought of going one step further than that and making this girl go totally insane…it sounded even more appealing than ever.

She froze again as his lips touched her body again. He had her arms pinned above her head with one of his hands and he used his lips and his free hand to explore her body. He could hear something going on downstairs but it wasn't enough to truly distract him. His pants weren't even all the way off before he thrust into her. Thoughts of fire ran through his brain as he kissed her to muffle her screams. She felt like fire to him. Trish had been pure innocence, Beth had been pure darkness and Melina was fire. _Hehehe I like fire_ he giggled inwardly. _Fire pretty, Melina pretty. She's my pretty little fire._

Melina had tears streaming down her face and she was trying to push Jeff off to no avail. "Stop," she begged. "Please stop."

He grinned and began rubbing her clit with his fingers. He was being so rough that he could feel her bleeding and the pain would probably override most of the pleasure. Still, he remembered something Matt had told him once: if you make them enjoy it even a little bit, that very fact can start unraveling their minds. They don't want to feel any pleasure from this and if they do, they'll start blaming themselves. It was all a nice little mind game.

He bit at her neck as he came, drawing blood as he did it. He lapped up the blood and then kissed her on the cheek. "See? That wasn't so bad, was it? He rolled off the bed, put his clothes back on and then tossed her some old clothes he didn't wear much anymore. "Come on lazy butt. I want to go eat dinner."

Someone opened the door without knocking. Jeff turned around to yell at them, only to find himself face to face with Mark. "What the hell?" he said slowly.

"Damn it!" Victoria could be heard yelling. "This is not a hotel James! We can't fit a billion people in here!"

Mark rolled his eyes at her yelling, but he didn't say anything about it. Instead he punched Jeff so hard that he actually fell to his knees. "That was for the unicorn thing," he growled. He looked over at Melina for a moment and then looked back at Jeff. "Get your toy dressed and bring her downstairs. Stacy said dinner is in five minutes."

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Jeff asked in amazement. What the hell was Mark doing? Who told Mark to come in here and start barking orders and throwing punches? And who told him Jeff was even going to listen?

"I'm the guy who's going to knock some sanity into you," Mark informed him. He punched Jeff in the stomach and caught him before he doubled all the way over. "And that was for Trish." He kissed Jeff on the head and then shoved him down before leaving the room.

Jeff coughed and regained his breath. "Mark's going to get it," he told Melina, not caring if she was actually listening or not. "I'm going to get Marky for that. Oh I'm going to get him real good."


	11. Chapter 11

James sat down next to Stacy. With the exception of Roxxi, Jeff and the kidnapped people, everyone in the house had gathered at the table. Christian, Miz and Victoria were discussing the evil that was known as the Rubik's cube (apparently none of them could solve it), Natalya and Dwayne were arguing which was the better movie: _Hostel _or _Saw_, Raven and Gangrel were trying to toss food into each other's mouths, Stacy and Tammy were talking about clothes, Glenn and Umaga were just staring at everybody, which left James and Mark to talk by themselves.

"So how did Jeff react?" James asked.

"He looked like he wanted to kill me," Mark said. He shoved some food into his mouth. "That boy needs discipline. I don't think Hunter kept him on a short enough leash."

"That's because he didn't want to get killed in his sleep. If you keep Jeff down too much, he'll just kill you so he can do what he wants."

Mark shook his head. "I'll have him trained soon enough. It's just going to take--"

"Mark look out!" Christian suddenly yelled.

Both James and Mark turned around just to see Jeff attempting to stab Mark right in the neck. Mark caught Jeff's wrist just in time. "So you want to play it this way boy?" Mark asked. He used one hand to pin Jeff's hand down to the table and the other to take the knife away from Jeff. "Fine, let's play then."

James winced as Mark drove the knife through Jeff's hand and pinned it down to the table. He winced even more as Jeff screamed in pain. Everybody else was wincing too. Hell, Melina was even wincing as she was trying to slip out of the room so she could escape. "Jesus, did you have to do that where we are eating?" he asked as he got up and dragged Melina over to the table. She glared hatefully at him as she tried to fight him but he didn't care.

Mark ignored him of course. "Does it hurt?" he asked Jeff.

"I'll kill you, I'll kill you I swear to God I'll fucking kill you," Jeff muttered.

Mark grabbed the handle of the knife and twisted it around, getting another scream from Jeff. "I asked you a question boy. Does it hurt?"

"Yes you asshole!" Jeff yelled angrily. He hit Mark on the side of the head. "Take it out you mother fucker!"

"Not until we get one thing perfectly clear: I am tired of you trying to kill me. If you can play nice with me, then I'll play nice with you. But if you try your bullshit against me or when I tell you not to, I will get mean. I may not be able to get crazy like you, but I am a lot meaner than you are. Do you understand me?"

Jeff whimpered. "Hunter won me over with cookies. Why couldn't you just bring me cookies?" He sounded like he was near tears. It was hard to tell whether he was really about to cry or he was just faking it. Knowing Jeff, it was probably the latter option.

But Tammy didn't know Jeff as well as James did. "Mark, you're being too mean!" she exclaimed. She pushed the larger man out of the way and took the knife out of Jeff's hand. "Oh, poor baby. Did mean old Mark make a boo boo?"

"Don't talk to him like he's a baby," Raven said as he rolled his eyes. "It's just going to make him act even more like a child and it's just plain creepy when he does that."

Gangrel licked his lips. "Look at all that hot juicy blood. That looks so--"

Mark tossed a dinner roll at the "vampire's" head. "Don't even think about it. You're not biting the kid and that's final."

Tammy smiled at Jeff. "You see, Mark does like you. He just has a funny way of showing it. Now come on, let's go get you cleaned up."

Mark just shook his head. "It's just like having a ticking time bomb around you. I don't know how you people stand it."

Dwayne and Miz nodded. "We wonder the same thing sometimes," Miz admitted.

James got some food on a plate and shoved it at Melina. "You eat," he ordered.

She just looked at him. "I only have a spoon."

"Yeah, well, you're not getting anything else," he informed her. "The last thing I need is for you to stab me as you're trying to make a break for it."

They managed to get halfway through the meal before Jeff came back in. "C is for cookie and that's good enough for me! C is for cookie and it's good enough for me!" He grabbed the entire jar of cookies and started shoving as many of the chocolate chip goodies in his mouth as he could.

"Jeff! I told you not until you ate dinner!" Tammy yelled as she ran back into the room.

"Too late!" Jeff cackled as he ran away again.

Mark just sighed and glared at James. "You're pure evil for getting me to agree to do this. This kid is going to give me a stroke before the week is over."

James grinned. "So for once I out-eviled you? That's awesome. I'm going to treasure this moment for the rest of my life."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Shawn just stared blankly at the two FBI agents in front of him. He could hardly believe any of this was happening. Earlier, Rebecca had called him, hysterically crying about Melina getting kidnapped. When he got home, he learned that not only had she been taken right from the school, but Brooke and Kelly had been snatched right along with her. And then, if that wasn't bad enough, Agent Styles and Agent Angle had shown up to deliver more bad news. Melina was in the clutches of one of the most notorious serial killers in recent history. Despite their reassurances that they were going to do everything in their power to find the girls alive, neither of them sounded like they believed that was going to happen.

"What about ransom?" Rebecca asked. This was the first time she had spoken since she had broken down bawling three hours ago. "What if we offer to pay a ransom?"

Agent Styles sighed. "Mrs. Michaels, I'm going to be completely honest with you here. Jeff Hardy has never been and probably is not interested in ransom. It's probably not even about a reason any of us here can understand."

Agent Angle nodded in agreement. "Hardy was meant to be in the institution he had been placed in for the rest of his life. He can't function in society with the rest of us. I promise the both of you that when we find him, we will make sure he'll never hurt anyone again."

_But will you find him before it's too late_? Shawn asked in his head. He leaned back and sighed. He just didn't know what who to have faith in at the moment. It felt like not enough was being done. _I have to take matters into my own hands_, he decided. _I'll find Melina and make sure she comes home safe and sound._


	12. Chapter 12

Melina felt like she was trapped in some sort of horror movie. Everybody in this house were crazy, murderous bastards. And Jeff was without a doubt, the most insane of the bunch. He was currently holding her in his lap in the living room as tightly as he could so she couldn't get free. As if she could run anywhere if she did get out of his grip. Even though Jeff was totally insane and had raped her, he at least seemed interested in keeping her alive at the moment. She couldn't say the same thing about anyone else in this nuthouse.

"Help!" Dawn Marie screamed as she and Cody Rhodes were dragged into the living room. "Please, somebody help!"

Melina shut her eyes as the tears started to burn them. She knew Cody and Dawn from school. They weren't friends, but still, she didn't wish this on them. This made her wonder where Kelly and Brooke were. Were they still alive? She hoped they were. She hoped they were alive so the three of them could find a way out of this.

"Open your eyes pretty fire toy," Jeff said. He stroked Melina's hair gently before yanking on it. "Watch the fun and games."

Melina tried to keep her eyes shut but he kept pulling on her hair so much that she finally did open her eyes just so he would let go. Gangrel, Raven, Christian and Cactus were viciously kicking Cody as hard as they possibly could. James, Miz and Dwayne were circling Dawn like they were a pack of wolves or something. She had no idea where the other psychos were and she didn't care. "Please," she said quietly. She was near tears already. "Don't make me watch. I don't want to see this."

"But it's going to be so entertaining," Jeff told her. "This is better than watching some horror movie. You get to see the teenagers die right here in front of you. You don't even have to pay us anything! We're showing it to you for free!"

She closed her eyes again. Somehow she doubted he would listen to her if she told him that she didn't even really like horror movies. There was usually too much blood in them for her taste. She didn't like blood. The sight of it made her sick to her stomach.

A hand that did not belong to Jeff grabbed her by the jaw and squeezed until she opened her eyes. She found Mark glaring at her. "The boy told you to open your eyes," he growled. "If he wants you to watch this, then you'll watch it. You understand?"

Jeff giggled. "Marky's taking charge." He kissed Melina on the cheek. "You should get used to watching pretty toy. This will probably be happening to everyone you know and love soon enough. You should get used to watching all this."

Melina's blood ran cold. She didn't like the sound of that at all. "Leave my family and friends alone," she said. It sounded like a cross between a plea and an order. "Don't bring them into this."

"But it'll be more fun if we drag them into this," Jeff insisted. He playfully tugged on her shirt. "And I like having fun. Good, bloody, murderous fun."

Glenn and Umaga came in carrying a giant black wooden symbol thing. Gangrel and Christian began tying Cody to it while Raven started taking out a bunch of knives from a small black bag. Melina looked away from that and saw what was happening to Dawn Marie. She couldn't tell exactly what the hell Miz and Dwayne were helping James do, but she saw blood so she quickly looked away.

"Keep a hold of your side, will you?" Christian snapped at Gangrel. They were trying to prop up the symbol thing they had Cody tied to.

Gangrel rolled his eyes. "Oh who cares if he falls over? He's going to die soon enough anyway."

"Yeah, but we'll have to pick him back up if he falls over," Christian pointed out.

"I got a better idea you guys," James said to Dwayne and Miz. He picked up Dawn and tossed her over his shoulder. "Hey Jeff, do you want to kill this one?"

"Oh so we don't get to have anymore fun with her?" Miz asked.

"You had your fun earlier," James snapped. "You two idiots damn near gave her hypothermia, which I honestly didn't think was possible down here in this city."

Dwayne grinned. "Yeah, my little water torture was nice. I've got to do it again some time. It was fun."

"I want the fun," Jeff said. He handed Melina over to Mark. "Watch her," he ordered. He started to take off after James.

"Hey!" Mark growled. "Who said I wanted to watch her?"

Jeff turned around. "Please watch her?"

"That's better."

James, Jeff, Miz and Dwayne started to leave with Dawn. "Okay Jeff, she's going to be Marie Antoinette and you're going to be the executioner.." James could be heard saying.

Melina squeaked as she was suddenly dragged violently Mark. The guy had a hell of a grip. "Oh hell no!" Mark yelled. "James Paul Lawson, you are not going to let him do what I think you're going to do!"

"Oh lighten up Marky!" James yelled back. "It's going to be okay!"

"Like hell it is," Mark growled. He looked at Melina as he dragged her out the back door. "You know what happened to Marie Antoinette, don't you?"

"She got her head chopped off?" Melina guessed. History wasn't her strong point, but she had seen part of he movie.

Mark nodded. "Yeah. Can you imagine Jeff with an ax?"

Melina's eyes widened. She had only been in this mess for several hours now, but she sensed that Jeff with any kind of weapon bigger than a knife was unbelievably scary. _Oh Jesus, I don't want to die. What in the hell did I do to deserve this shit?_

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jeff's eyes widened as James handed him an ax. It had been awhile since he had used one of these. He giggled as Miz and Dwayne quickly backed away from him. "I am the executioner," he said in a deep voice. "I will execute you!"

James laid Dawn down on the ground and held her in place with his foot. "Now you're only killing her, so don't get too carried away with that thing."

Jeff shook his head. "That's what you think." He stopped to take aim for only a second before raising the ax above his head and bringing it down as hard as he could across Dawn's neck. Blood spurted all over him and James, and surprisingly, he managed to get the head completely off on the first try. "I win!" he shouted triumphantly. He raised the ax again and started walking towards Miz. "Let's see if I can do it again."

Miz jumped behind Dwayne. "Save me!"

Dwayne shook his head. "Screw you man. I'm getting the hell out of here."

"James you idiot!" Mark snapped. "What the hell is your problem man? Why would you do this? You know what, don't even talk!" He handed Melina to the man he was currently pissed at. "You hold her. I'll take care of this."

Jeff took off running. He didn't want Mark to take care of this. Mark was going to be mean and take his new ax away. It was going to be like Hunter and the chainsaw again, only Mark would probably hit him. He didn't want to be hit. So he ran blindly, not paying attention to where he was going until something that felt like metal teeth closed in around his ankle.

"OW!" he screamed as he fell over. The pain in his ankle was the worst thing he had ever felt. He sat up enough to see that his ankle was caught in a bear trap. Why Roxxi had a bear trap in her yard was beyond him. He just knew that it hurt a lot. "Mark! Mark help me!"

"Oh Jesus," Mark said as he caught up with Jeff. "How the hell did you manage this kid?"

"I don't know but get me out of this thing!" Jeff shouted. He tried yanking his ankle free but that just made the pain worse. "Bastard thing! Why do you hate my ankle?"

"It's a bear trap Jeff. It doesn't have feelings," Mark told him. He messed with the trap until it opened back up so Jeff could back away from it. His ankle was bleeding and it felt like it was broken

"It does too hate my ankle," Jeff insisted. He tried to stand up but Mark scooped him up into his arms instead.

"You're not walking anywhere," Mark said. "You're going to hurt yourself more."

Jeff looked back and saw that he left his ax on the ground. "Ax! Mark, get the ax!"

"You're not having the ax."

"Why not?"

"You'll kill one of us with it."

"Will not."

"You will too."

"Okay, I would but I still want it."

"No."

Jeff pouted. Well this sucked. Not only was he hurt now but he didn't even have his ax anymore. Life really sucked sometimes.


	13. Chapter 13

"OW! That really hurts!" Jeff complained. His injured ankle was propped up on the table and Stacy and Tammy were trying to fix it. Trying was the key word; he wasn't actually fully cooperating because of the pain he was in.

"Honey, you need to let us work on it," Stacy said gently. She tried to put some stuff on it that would clean the marks the teeth of the trap had left but Jeff wasn't having any of it.

"Not that stuff!" he shouted. "That stuff burns. Use the stuff Matt used to use."

Tammy and Stacy exchanged looks. "Honey, we don't know what Matt used on you," Tammy tried to explain.

"Well you better figure it out then," Jeff snapped. He looked over and saw Roxxi had wandered back in. "Why the fuck do you have a bear trap in your yard? What the hell is the matter with you? Don't you know bear traps are dangerous?"

James grinned. "I never thought I'd hear Jeff scolding somebody about how dangerous something is."

Raven nodded. "Yeah, it's kind of amusing. He tries to sound so grown up."

Roxxi cocked her head to the side. "My mansion is not a hotel. Why are all you people here?"

"Forget them!" Jeff snapped. He hated it when he was ignored, especially when he was in pain. "You didn't answer my question!"

"Bear traps help against intruders and little psychos running with axes," Roxxi replied. She started to turn around and walk away.

"Where were you anyway?" Miz suddenly asked. "Were you out raising zombies or something?" He laughed at his own joke until he saw the look on Roxxi's face. "Oh my God. You were trying to raise some zombies!"

Roxxi just shrugged. "Time will only tell what the future brings. What is dead may stay dead, or it will rise again. It's up to the moon to decide." With that weird ass cryptic statement, she left the room.

Jeff was so distracted by that statement he didn't realize Stacy was cleaning his wounds until his ankle started to sting. "OW! What did I just tell you?"

"And on that note, we're leaving," Christian said, indicating to himself and Gangrel. "I'm not listening to Jeff scream like a baby any more."

Mark sighed and set Melina down on Jeff's lap. "Here, hold your toy until they're done."

"But I want Matt," Jeff whined. He rested his forehead against Melina's shoulder. "Tell them I want Matt."

"I don't know who Matt is," she said hesitantly. It was like she was afraid that if she said the wrong thing, he would kill her or something. He had no idea what gave her that idea.

"He was my brother. He died. My old family died and left me all alone."

Melina made a little noise. "Sounds like my family."

Jeff just stared at her. So his little toy was an orphan too? Hmmmm…that was interesting. Very interesting.

Tammy wrapped Jeff's ankle with a heavy bandage. "You should stay off until it starts feeling better," she told him. "I asked Natalya to look around the house and see if there are any crutches you can use until you can hold your own weight on it."

"I don't need no fucking crutches," Jeff informed her. He pushed Melina up to her feet and stood up so he was only on his good foot. "I can hop along just fine." He tossed Melina over his shoulder and literally hopped out of the room and got as far as the staircase. "Okay, this might be a problem," he admitted.

"I figured it would be," Mark said. He had followed Jeff without being seen. He picked the smaller man up again and carried him up the stairs. "You hopped off before we could give you your pain pills," he explained as he dumped Jeff and Melina on the bed. He handed Jeff two white pills and a bottle of water. "Don't go hopping off after you take those. They're going to make you really tired and I'm not chasing after you at two in the morning because you went out and fell on your face."

Jeff pouted and took the pills. "You're no fun." He grabbed Melina before she could roll away from him and held on to her like she was a beloved teddy bear instead of a person.

"Get off of me," she said. She tried to push him away so he decided to solve that problem by laying on top of her.

"Quit it," he whined. "I'm not going to hurt you. Not now. I'm sleepy. Sleep with me."

"What?" she said in disbelief.

He giggled. "You have a dirty mind toy. I like it." He used her chest as a pillow and shut his eyes. "We can play dirty games tomorrow. Right now you have to sleep."

XXXXXXXXXXX

AJ winced as Kurt slammed the woman up against the wall. Their search for Melina Perez, Kelly Kelly and Brooke Adams had lead them to the seedy underworld of New Orleans, where everybody was playing dumb about the whereabouts of Jeff. They had currently caught a hooker who had been a suspect in several murders named Luna Vachon. Kurt had finally decided to stop being diplomatic and get answers by any means necessary.

"Listen Luna," Kurt said in a very quiet and dangerous voice. He was extremely unpredictable when he stopped being polite and started getting psycho. "Innocent girls are in danger. We know Jeff wanted Melina and we know he had his partner take Kelly and Brooke. We just need to know where he's staying."

Luna just stared at him defiantly. "Why would I know where he is? I don't run around with him. He's too psycho for my taste."

"You're lying."

"Am not."

"Actually you are," AJ said. "Kurt's really good at telling when people are lying. And hell, even I can tell that you're hiding something and I'm not as observant as my partner here."

Luna shook her head. "Then prove it. Prove I'm lying."

Kurt grinned sadistically. "Okay." He dragged her into the empty restroom and stuck her head into the first dirty toilet he could find.

"Okay, that is just gross," AJ informed him.

Kurt just shook his head. "Do you want information or not?" He lifted Luna back up. "You going to talk yet?"

Luna coughed and sputtered. "I don't--"

Kurt stuck her head back down in the toilet. "I am tired of playing nice. We're running out of time. Melina, Kelly and Brooke are running out of time." He lifted Luna back up. "I can do this all night."

Luna gasped for breath. "He's with Roxxi Laveux!" she said. "He and his new little running buddies went to stay with Roxxi and her crew."

"Roxxi?" AJ said.

"She's that creepy lady who lives out in that mansion down by the swamps. She's got a house full of geeks now with Jeff and his crew there and with the Ministry of Darkness staying there now too. It'll be suicide to go in alone."

"That's why we won't do that," Kurt informed her. He tossed her aside and motioned for AJ to follow him. "Come on. We have to call for back up."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

While Kurt and AJ were interrogating Luna, Shawn was doing some investigating of his own. It wasn't going quite as well until he overheard two people talking on a street corner.

"Come on Gangrel, there's not anyone out here on the streets worth killing. Let's go into that new club that just opened last night. There will be good people in there to slaughter."

"I hate clubs Christian. You know that."

"Oh quit being such a stick in the mud. I want to do something fun."

"We could go back to Roxxi's and torture those two girls Jeff and Umaga took from the school."

"But they're friends of…wait, what's Jeff's toys name again?"

"Melina?"

"Yeah. They're Melina's friends and I think Jeff wants to use him in his little game. I'm not dying just because you don't want to go to a club and get fresh victims."

Shawn didn't stick around to hear more of the conversation. He had heard enough. Jeff had Melina at somebody named Roxxi's. He didn't know how or why, but he suddenly knew they were talking about that freaky Voodoo Queen everyone was afraid of. Who else would house a whole bunch of killers besides her? _Hold on Melina,_ he said silently as he got back into his car. _I'm coming now. Just hold on a little longer._


	14. Chapter 14

Melina didn't know how long she laid underneath Jeff. Part of her was too afraid to move but the other part of her recognized that she needed to try to get Kelly and Brooke and get the fuck out of there before things got even worse. So she carefully pushed Jeff off of her (thankfully he was in too deep of sleep from the pain pills to notice) and she carefully crept out of the room. She did have a general idea of where Kelly and Brooke were being kept because she had heard them screaming when Cody and Dawn had been taken out to die. _Please don't let anyone be awake, please don't let anyone be awake_ she prayed silently as she walked down the stairs.

The mansion suddenly seemed much creepier now that it was dark and silent for once. Melina managed to find the room she thought her friends were being kept in, but the door was locked. "Shit," she whispered. She had absolutely no idea where the key to the room was being kept and she didn't want to waste time trying to find it. So she decided to improvise by taking a hair pin out of her hair and using it to unlock the door.

Kelly and Brooke were huddled up together on the floor. "Guys," Melina whispered. "Guys wake up."

Kelly opened her eyes first. "Melina? What--"

"Shhhh!" Melina scolded. She didn't want Kelly to talk too loud and attract attention to them. "Come on, get up. We have to go." She shook Brooke until she woke up and covered the brunette's mouth so she would know to be quiet. She led the three of them out of the room and they started tip toeing towards the front door.

That was when Glenn stepped out in front of them.

Kelly put her own hands over her mouth to stop from screaming. Melina stopped in her tracks and gulped. This was not good. The masked man was just staring at them and his eyes told her that he wasn't very happy to see them out walking around like this. "Please, we just want to go home," she begged quietly. "We don't want to die here. Please, just have a little mercy--"

Glenn came out her suddenly and she brought her foot up to defend herself. It connected with his groin and caused him to double over in pain. She quickly grabbed Kelly and Brooke by the hands and they just flat out started sprinting for the front door. They got so close because Melina got the door open but Christian and Gangrel were waiting on the other side of it.

"Not today girlies," Christian said. He grabbed Melina while Gangrel grabbed Kelly and Brooke. "We've got bigger issues to deal with than your escape plans" He looked at Gangrel. "Do you think they got our text?"

"PEOPLE I SAID GET A MOVE ON!" James shouted. He came tearing down the stairs looking pissed off. "Who the fuck told you Luna ratted us out?"

"Rob saw her getting dragged away by two agents," Gangrel said. He hissed at Kelly, who was trying to stomp on his foot. "She's snitched before so it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out she probably snitched this time too."

"Son of a fucking bitch!" James growled. "Can't I ever get a fucking break around here?"

About a minute later, the others had joined them downstairs. Mark had a still sleeping Jeff slung over his shoulders. James took Melina from Christian and Dwayne took Kelly from Gangrel. "Where the fuck are we going to go?" Stacy asked.

"No," Raven said. He looked out the window. "But wherever we go, we better go out the back because I see cars coming this way."

Melina tried to break free from James's grip as she was dragged out the back door. "Let go of us you mother fuckers!" she yelled. If the FBI was already on their way, she wanted to make as much noise as possible so she could be heard. "We're not going anywhere with you!"

"Can somebody shut that bitch up?" Natalya asked.

"I've got it," James assured her. He punched Melina in the face so hard she felt like her jaw had been broken. "Now come on," he growled. "I'm not listening to you whine the entire way."

Roxxi led them into the swamp. It was so overwhelmingly hot that Melina felt like she was about to die. They were getting deeper and deeper in, but suddenly Victoria stopped and looked back. "Wait, where's Umaga?"

Everyone else stopped too. "Did we fucking forget him or something?" Gangrel asked. "How did we forget someone like him?"

"Do we go back for him?" Miz asked.

"Fuck that," Mark said. "I say we keep going. The house could already be swarmed with FBI and this swamp will be too soon. We've got to keep going."

Jeff woke up and rubbed his eyes. "What's going on?"

"We're running from cops," Tammy said. "And we should keep running and stop worrying about Umaga. He'll be fine."

Suddenly Brooke elbowed Gangrel in the face and took off running back to the mansion. "Go!" Melina screamed. "Go get help! Hurry!"

"Jeff what the fuck are you doing?" Mark asked as Jeff wiggled free from his grip. "Would you knock that off?"

Christian grabbed a hold of Brooke's arm and tried to pull her back. She punched him right in the face, but the damage had been done. She had been slowed down long enough for Jeff to pounce on her. Kelly screamed and Melina felt paralyzed as she caught a look at Jeff's eyes. Hurt ankle and effects of the pills notwithstanding, he still had murderous intentions on his mind. "Jeff no!" she yelled. "Leave her alone! Let her go!"

Jeff wasn't listening. He grabbed her by the hair and started bashing her head against a fallen log over and over again. He was literally bashing her brains in and Melina and Kelly couldn't do a damn thing to stop it because they were being held back.

"Jeff come on!" Miz finally said. "We've got to go now!"

"Mark would you get him under control?" Raven asked.

Jeff suddenly stopped and crawled over to Melina. He hopped up to his good foot and smeared Brooke's blood all over her face. "The fun and games never stop pretty toy," he cooed. "Oh they never stop for Jeffey!"

XXXXXXXXXX

AJ couldn't help but feel nervous as Kurt kicked down Roxxi's front door. They along with Scott Steiner, Booker "T" Hoffman and "Samoa" Joe were walking in on the lair of known killers. And those killers were crazy than pet coons. _I think I'm going to need years of therapy after all this is said and done_, he thought to himself as they went into the mansion.

Once they were inside, they discovered one startling fact: nobody appeared to be home. And after some searching, they realized nobody really was home. "Son of a bitch," Kurt growled. "They figured out we were coming."

"What about the swamp?" AJ said. "They could have gone in there."

Joe nodded. "Yeah let's--" He stopped as they all heard a weird growling noise. "What the fu--"

Umaga jumped out of a room they had checked and thought had been empty. He pounced on Steiner and literally tried to tear him apart. Booker and AJ got him off for a moment but got knocked silly for their troubles. But before Umaga could attack Steiner again, Kurt shot him twice in the head.

"Mother fucker!" Steiner yelled. He was bleeding pretty bad but he would live. "What the fuck was that shit?"

"I don't know," Kurt said. "Booker, you call an ambulance and stay here with Steiner. AJ, Joe, come with me. We've got to get in that swamp and see if we can figure out where the hell they went before it's too late."

XXXXXXXXX

Unbeknownst to both the agents and the killers, somebody else was already in the swamp. Shawn had seen the FBI coming and he had figured the killers probably knew they were going to get ambushed if they stayed. He had done his homework and he knew Jeff had the tendency to surround himself with people that had connections. Those connections probably tipped him off yet again to take off running. It was why he had avoided capture for so long.

Shawn stumbled upon Brooke's body. It took him a minute to recognize her because her head was so badly beaten in. He crossed himself and said a little prayer for her as he walked away. He had wanted to shut her eyes, but he knew not to touch the body. Besides, he could hear Melina and Kelly begging for their freedom up somewhere ahead. He had to keep moving if he wanted to keep up with them. He wasn't stupid enough to think he could take all the killers himself. But he knew that if he was patient enough, God would provide him with exactly the opportunity he needed to get the girls back. And when that opportunity arrived, he would strike down with a furious vengeance on those who dared to mess with his family.


	15. Chapter 15

"Doesn't this swamp ever end?" Jeff asked. It felt like they had all been walking for hours. It was morning now and he had absolutely no idea where exactly they were. Hell, he wasn't even sure anyone knew where they were except for Roxxi. She seemed pretty comfortable with her surroundings. The heat and the mosquitoes weren't bothering her in the least.

"We've got a bit of ways to go yet," Roxxi told him.

"But I don't want to go anymore!" he complained. "I'm hot! I'm being eaten alive by bugs! Mark's starting to smell funny!"

Mark glared at him. "I don't have to carry you, you know," he growled. "I can make you hop around on one foot."

"Guys, I've got to complain too," Miz said. "We're stuck in this God forsaken swamp and we're being chased by the FBI yet _again_. This situation really sucks right now."

Jeff rubbed his eyes and looked down at the ground. "Oh look a snake. I want to touch it."

"Honey it's poisonous," Tammy told him.

He glared at her. He was very well aware that it was poisonous. He wasn't stupid like some people thought he was. "I know that Tammy," he said in a mean and childish voice. "But that doesn't mean I can't play with it."

"What's today?" James asked suddenly.

"Tuesday," Stacy answered.

"Shit! I've got a meeting with the mayor of Reno the day after tomorrow."

Jeff grinned. In the midst of all the excitement, they had completely forgotten James was still the governor of Nevada. He still had a job to do. "You just thought of this now? Wow James, what kind of governor are you?"

"I'm one that got very distracted," James said defensively. He looked around at everyone. "Anyone else feel like going to Vegas?"

"I'm in," Stacy said. "I want to go home and go back to my normal life."

"Yeah me too," Miz said. "I'm tired of these swamps. I'd rather go back to the desert. At least there's no mosquitoes there."

Jeff made a loud whining noise. He had a little objection to the Vegas idea. "What about my plan though?" he whined. "I can't kill whatever family Melina's staying with if I'm in Vegas!" He giggled at the look on her face as he said that. "You basically told me you're an orphan pretty toy. Those people you were with aren't your family. You have nobody to wuv you but me."

Melina glared at him but she didn't say anything. Her face was still covered in Brooke's blood. He licked his lips and grinned. "You're cute when you're angry," he told her.

Kelly tried to get her wrist out of Dwayne's grip. "Would you let go?" she growled. "You're hurting me you psychotic freak."

"I am not psychotic," Dwayne snapped. "You just need to quit whining like a little baby."

"I'm hot," Jeff complained again. "I'm tired of outside. I want to go inside now."

"Well there is no inside to go in so stop complaining," Mark told him. "We're all hot, we're all tired and your whining is not helping."

"Hey here's the road," Victoria said triumphantly.

"But there's nobody here on it," Christian pointed out. "There's no fucking cars for us to steal. Way to fucking go bitches."

Roxxi glared at him. "Do you have a problem with where we are?"

"Guys," Cactus said slowly.

"Yes I have a problem!" Christian exclaimed. "It's like a hundred degrees out here and we have no way of getting out of this city. The FBI is going to be swarming the entire city soon and then we're fucked."

"Guys," Cactus repeated.

"Not now Cactus," James said impatiently. "What we need to do is go to the nearest truck stop or gas station or whatever the hell is here, steal some cars and haul ass back to Las Vegas."

"And what if we don't want to go to Vegas?" Natalya asked.

"Then go somewhere else! Do you think I give a shit anymore! Fuck, I'm about to fucking collapse from heat exhaustion. I don't fucking give a shit where you and your girlfriends want to go."

"Going to Vegas isn't going to solve the FBI problem James," Mark informed his friend.

"I fucking know that Mark! Nothing is going to solve this fucking FBI problem besides laying low for awhile, which we know Jeff can't do."

"Excuse me?" Jeff said. Now he was offended. "What the hell does that mean?"

"You know what it fucking means! It fucking means you can't chill out for a few fucking weeks so we can lose the fuckers that are chasing us."

"I can too! I've done it before!"

"Only when Hunter chained you up."

"Well let's just chain him up then and lay low for awhile," Gangrel suggested.

"How about I fucking stab you in the neck?" Jeff snarled at the vampire. "How would you like that you fucking piece of shit?"

"GUYS!" Cactus finally yelled at the top of his lungs.

"WHAT?" Stacy yelled back. "Why are you yelling Cactus?"

"We're being followed," the simple minded madman revealed. He pointed back towards the swamp. "We've been followed this entire time."

"And you just said something now?" Dwayne asked in disbelief. "What the hell is wrong with you jabroni?"

Glenn went back into the swamp without saying a word. "Glenn get back here!" Mark ordered. "You have no fucking idea what's out there! Glenn! Fuck!" He set Jeff down on the ground. "You stay," he said before chasing after his brother.

Jeff folded his arms over his chest. "What am I, a dog?" He suddenly grinned. "Woof woof! I'm a dog!"

Tammy sighed. "Jeff please don't start."

"Grrrrr, don't tell me what to do lady," Jeff growled. "I'll bite your face off."

"Are you completely insane?" Kelly finally asked.

He grinned at her. "What do you think?"

Some yelling came from the swamp and Mark finally emerged with Glenn and an unconscious man in his grasp.

"Shawn!" Melina yelled. She looked shocked and horrified that he was there.

"I'm guessing he's family to the toy over there," Mark said, pointing to Melina.

Jeff shook his head. "No no no, only foster family. She's still an orphan like me." He hopped back up to his good foot. "He has to come with us. I have to have him for my little game. I have to have him and the rest of his little family."

Melina shook her head. "Leave them alone!" she shouted. "You stay away from them!"

Raven held up his hands and signaled for everyone to shut up. "Okay let's take a time out and establish a few things." He pointed to Roxxi, Victoria and Natalya. "You're not coming to Las Vegas, right?"

Victoria nodded. "We've got a place in Baton Rouge we can hide out at until it's safe to go home."

"Okay. That leaves the rest of us Vegas bound, but James has to get back sooner because of his governor duties."

"Right," James confirmed. "So why don't half of us go back to Vegas right away the other half help Jeff get whatever he needs for his little fun and games."

"Mark and Melina come with me!" Jeff said eagerly. He liked where this plan was going. As long as he got what he wanted, he didn't care about anything else.

Mark sighed and then looked at Glenn and Tammy. "You two are coming with me then," he told them.

"Fine," Tammy said.

Glenn just nodded.

"And the rest of us can just go with James," Raven said. "Kidnapping a family won't be hard for you guys to do by yourself."

"So we officially have a plan?" Jeff asked.

"It seems like it," Miz said.

"You know what we still don't have?" Jeff said. He was grinning now.

"What?" Christian asked.

"Cars."

Everyone just stopped and groaned. "Shit," Mark muttered. "That means more fucking walking. What the fuck is this world coming too?"

"It's the end of the world as we know it," Jeff sang. "It's the end of the world as we know it and I--"

"Jeff?" James interrupted.

"Yeah?"

"Just stop, okay?"

"Okay. But only because I like you."


	16. Chapter 16

By the time they found a truck stop, Mark was seriously ready to murder everyone around him. That was how badly everyone was annoying him. They had to knock Shawn back out twice, which made Melina start screaming so they knocked her out too, which led to Jeff bitching, which then led to Mark nearly strangling him. But cooler heads prevailed (barely) and by the time they were at the truck stop, Shawn, Melina and Kelly were all restrained by the handcuffs Miz was carrying around. Mark did not ask why the annoying man had handcuffs because he honestly did not want to know the answer.

"That truck will work for us," Victoria said. She, Natalya and Roxxi started walking towards it but the Voodoo Queen stopped and turned around for a moment. "We will be seeing you again," she said. It almost sounded like a warning. "A new edition will bring us all back together."

Mark frowned as she and her girls got in the truck, hotwired it and drove off. "I'm not sure I want to find out what she means by that."

"Me neither," Raven agreed. "He looked at the unconscious Shawn, who was draped over Glenn's shoulder. "Do you want us to take him with us so you don't have to deal with him?"

Mark looked at Glenn, who just shrugged. "Okay, you can do that," Mark agreed. "It'll give us more room for the other people we've got to take."

"Okay, that settles that," James said. He patted Mark on the back. "I'll see you later buddy. Try not to get caught on your little mission."

"Oh don't worry, I'll get away," Mark assured him. "I might leave the others behind if we get caught, but I'll be okay." He saw the homicidal looks Jeff, Tammy and Glenn were giving him. "I was kidding of course." _Not,_ he added in his head.

James, Stacy, Dwayne, Miz got in one car (and they thoughtfully stuck Kelly in the trunk) while Raven, Christian and Gangrel got in another car (and they also stuck Shawn in the trunk). Tammy got her hands on a car for them and Mark had to admire her car stealing abilities. But he didn't take too long to do that because there wasn't time for that. He had Glenn stuff Melina in the trunk and then they took off. James had given them Melina's address so they knew exactly where they were going.

"Don't you guys think this is kind of a bad idea?" Tammy asked as they drove back into the city. She was looking around nervously. "The FBI is after us and instead of just getting the hell out of here, we're going back for a family that we don't even really need to kill."

"But we do need to kill them!" Jeff whined. "My game with Melina won't work right if we leave them alone!"

Mark sighed. "We're going to be fine Tammy. I'll be damned if I'm going to let us get caught. Besides, Jeff's just going to keep whining if we don't go back."

"He's always whining," Glenn said darkly. "He's like a baby."

"Excuse me?" Jeff said dangerously.

"Jeff--" Mark started to say.

"Silence old man! I want to hear what the crispy critter has to say." Jeff reached up and tried to yank Glenn's mask off. That made Glenn react violently and soon they were both attempting to strangle each other.

"Hey!" Mark yelled. He unbuckled his seatbelt and got back there. He tried to pull them apart but he didn't have much luck. "Knock it off!"

"BOYS!" Tammy screeched. "IF YOU DON'T BEHAVE I WILL PULL THIS CAR OVER AND THEN YOU WILL BE SORRY!"

Glenn and Jeff stopped and willingly separated from each other. "We're sorry," Glenn mumbled.

"We'll be good," Jeff promised.

Mark sighed and got back in his seat. "That was nice," he said to Tammy.

She grinned. "I know it was. My mom used to yell like that all the time. It used to scare the hell out of me and my sister."

Melina lived in a nice little residential neighborhood that made Mark want to kill something. It was something about the innocence of suburbia that irritated him. "Okay Jeff, we have to make this quick, you understand?" he said before they got out of the car.

Jeff nodded. "Me understand." He got out of the car and hopped towards the front door. Mark and Tammy were right behind him. Glenn was staying to guard the car and warn them if any cops came by. Jeff rang the door bell. "One two three four, I killed a dumb whore. Five six seven eight, try to keep her legs straight."

Rebecca answered the door and immediately received a head butt from Jeff that knocked her out. "OW!" Jeff complained. He rubbed his forehead. "That was a dumb idea."

"I have to agree," Mark said. He picked up Rebecca. "You two get the other brats. I'll take care of her."

"Okey dokey smokey," Jeff said as he and Tammy went to go do what they were told. Mark took Rebecca and stuck her in the trunk with Melina. Melina made an effort to sit up when he had the lid up, but he punched her until she quit trying to get out. He shut the trunk again and cursed under his breath. A little old lady was watching him carefully from her window. "Son of a bitch," he muttered. "I don't have time for this."

"Mark just leave it," Glenn said as Mark went to the old lady's front door. "Mark!"

Mark kicked the old lady's front door open. He went in and found her standing by her phone. He didn't stop and ask if she was calling the cops. He just grabbed her by the neck and snapped it easily. "Bad lady," he scolded. It kind of sounded like he was talking to a misbehaving dog. "You should have kept your eyes to yourself." He exited the house and closed the door behind him. Tammy and Jeff were putting the two little kids in the backseat with Glenn. "Jeff, you're in the front," Mark told the younger man.

Jeff looked confused. "Why? I was going to help hold the kids."

"You don't like kids, remember?"

"I like killing them. Does that count?"

Mark just glared at him.

"Okay, I'll get in the front," Jeff said reluctantly. "I'll just have to have a kid of my own so I can hold it."

_Dear God, let him be kidding_, Mark thought as they drove off again. The last thing they needed was a little Jeff Jr. running around and killing people. That would just make things even scarier.


	17. Chapter 17

James had not realized how much he had missed Las Vegas until he got back there. It really was nice to be home. He lounged back on the couch and just stared at the TV. His meeting had been yesterday and it had gone as well as it possibly could go. Currently, Raven and Christian were messing with Shawn in the basement. He had no idea where Gangrel and Cactus were. Miz and Dwayne had taken Kelly somewhere. For some reason, they seemed to almost like the blonde. He didn't really cared what they liked personally. If the little bitch with the double names kept those boys from annoying him, then he was all for her being kept.

"Hey baby," Stacy said. She had just gotten out of the shower and all she was wearing was a sexy black slip he had bought her a couple of years ago.

"Hey," he said. He pulled her down on to his lap and cuddled up against her. "Mark and the others should be here soon. Mark says Tammy has been driving like a maniac."

"Has anyone been following them?"

"Not as far as they know."

"Good." Stacy rested her head against James's chest. "You know, we should go to the Bahamas again some time. You know, just you and me. We had a lot of fun last time."

James grinned. That vacation had been pretty fun. It was the most fun he had ever had when he wasn't killing anybody. "Okay. We'll go sometime soon, I promise."

Dwayne came in with a very determined look on his face. "The blonde stays," he announced. "The blonde is going to live."

James frowned. "Why exactly is Kelly going to live?"

"Dude, she's been ragging on Miz for an hour now. I've never laughed so hard in my life. The bitch has to stay. Besides, Jeff always gets to keep the girls. It's our turn this time."

Stacy shrugged. "He's got a point."

"He does," James agreed. "Fine. Do what you want with her. But she's your responsibility, which means you're the one that's going to keep Jeff from killing her."

Dwayne made a face. "You suck Lawson. I hate you."

"Hey, don't hate the player, hate the game," James said. He checked his watch. "Wow, look at the time. It's time to eat some fucking lunch." He motioned for Stacy to move so he could get up. "PEOPLE!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. "IT'S TIME TO EAT! GET YOUR ASSES IN HERE SO WE CAN DECIDE WHERE WE'RE GOING!"

Stacy and Dwayne both winced. "Damn it James," Dwayne muttered. He put his finger in his hear and moved it around. "I think I might have just gone deaf."

Raven, Christian, Gangrel, Cactus and Miz (who was still dragging Kelly around) reported to the living room. "You don't need to scream you know," Raven pointed out. "You could have just asked nicely. We would have came just as quickly."

"Quiet you," James ordered. This was not the time for Raven's crap. There were more important issues to deal with at the moment. His growling stomach was at the top of that list. "Where do you guys want to go eat?"

"That Chinese place!"

"Pizza Hut!"

"Golden Corral!"

"Taco Johns!"

"Okay shut up!" James snapped. "I heard Chinese and I like that idea."

"Yes!" Miz said. "I win!"

"Yeah, that's the only thing you're ever going to win at in life," Kelly muttered.

James burst out laughing. This actually happened a lot if any person they kidnapped spent too much time with Miz. They stopped being afraid of him and they resorted to insulting him constantly. It wasn't a hard transition to make. Miz wasn't actually that scary. But still, it seemed funnier and more endearing this time around because Kelly was so pretty and so innocent looking. "I like her," he decided. "I'm making an executive decision to keep her." He stopped and glared at the girl in question. "Unless you try to run of course. Then you will die a horrible and painful death."

Kelly looked at him in disbelief. "Are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious. You have the potential to be very entertaining. I need something to keep Dwayne and Miz busy. Besides, if you don't work out, we can always just kill you. Remember that."

Christian sighed. "Well if this bitch is going with us, she needs a disguise. I'll be right back."

Gangrel rolled his eyes. "Oh God, what is he doing now?"

Christian came back with a black wig and some giant sunglasses. "Here you go," he said as he put the wig and sunglasses on poor Kelly's head. "There. Now you'll be harder to recognize."

Miz wrinkled his nose. "That wig looks like it was made out of back hair."

"And your hair looks like something died on your head," Kelly informed him.

James laughed again. Oh yeah, he was definitely liking her already. Now they just had to make sure Jeff didn't kill her when he arrived.

XXXXXXXXXX

AJ was kind of afraid to talk to Kurt. His long time partner was furious that the killers not only managed to escape the city right under their noses, but they had managed to take the entire Michaels family with them. So instead of talking, he focused on the mission at hand. The manhut was already in process. They had to find Jeff Hardy and bring him in dead or alive. And knowing Kurt, Kurt would be going for the dead option.

But AJ was starting to wonder if all of this was worth it. They were dealing with someone that was just a pure force of evil. There was no real humanity in Jeff. AJ had never personally met the guy and he already knew it. There was no stopping evil like that. It just kept continuing to live, no matter what happened.

And then there was the issue of Karen. At first he felt bad for even trying to think of her at a time like this. But then he realized this was the perfect time to think of her. Jeff had a history of killing FBI family members. If he realized Kurt was after him, he would find a way to target Karen and the kids. AJ could not let that happen. Kurt didn't care about his own family so AJ was going to have to care for him. He knew what he had to do.

He had to make sure Kurt didn't get anywhere near Jeff. And he was going to have to do it any way possible.

XXXXXXXXX

Melina felt like she couldn't breathe. She did not like being stuck in this trunk. Even having Rebecca didn't help. In fact, it made it worse. She was extremely claustrophobic. She had been for years now. She was trying to take deep breaths to get a hold of herself but it wasn't working. The cramped space was getting to her. She screamed and screamed to be let out but nobody was listening. They didn't care that she was about to have a full blown panic attack. They had the closest thing she had to a family and they were going to kill them one by one. Or, more accurately, Jeff was going to kill them. He was going to kill them and make her watch. And then he would keep her. He would keep her as his little toy to play with whenever he pleased. The realization that he didn't want to let her go had hit her pretty hard. There was no escape from him besides death.

"Let me out!" she screamed one final time. "Please! Somebody get me out of here!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Jeff frowned as he stared at little Cheyanne. He had gotten out of his seat and crawled into the back despite Mark's orders to sit back down. He had a lot of questions for the child and he meant to get them answered. "Why are you so small?" he asked slowly.

Cheyanne looked perplexed by that question. "Because I'm a child," she answered.

Jeff frowned. "Why haven't you grown up yet?"

"Because I haven't."

Mark rolled his eyes. "What is this, Twenty Questions or something?"

Jeff carefully poked Cheyanne on the nose. "Beep."

Cheyanne cocked her head to the side and poked Jeff's nose in return. "Boop."

Tammy glanced back at the scene that was unfolding in the backseat. "Is it weird to think this is kind of cute?"

"Cheyanne stop that," Cameron whispered. He was old enough to understand this situation wasn't good.

Jeff giggled and just kept staring at Cheyanne. He had never actually stopped to play with a kid before. He knew he didn't like babies because they cried too loud but kids were actually kind of fun. Now he knew what he had to do. "I want Melina to have my kid," he announced.

Tammy nearly crashed the car at that announcement. Mark looked like he was ready to have a stroke. Glenn only had one thing to say about that.

"Oh so the Anti-Christ will exist after all."


	18. Chapter 18

Mark lounged back on the couch. He, Jeff, Tammy and Glenn had arrived at James's house just a couple of hours ago. Jeff was downstairs in the basement with Melina, Shawn, Rebecca and Cameron. Tammy and Stacy had Cheyanne with them and they were fussing over the little girl. Mark had questioned why they had her and the answer he had gotten had been very simple: if Cheyanne could keep Jeff's curiosity at bay, maybe they could avoid him trying to impregnate Melina. Jeff having a biological child seemed to scare the ever loving crap out of everyone. Not only would they have to worry about him killing it if it cried too much, but some people were just supposed to procreate with anyone. If Jeff had a kid, the poor thing would have no chance at being normal in any way, shape or form.

Miz and Christian came into the room. "I had to duct tape Kelly to a chair," Miz said.

Mark rolled his eyes. "Why didn't you just kill her? It's not like we need anyone else staying here. It's crowded enough as it is.

"She amuses James," Miz explained. It didn't sound like he really agreed with James on that one. "But she kept trying to go downstairs to stop Jeff. I figured if James wanted to keep her alive it was best to make sure she didn't get too close to Jeff."

"So why did you duct tape her mouth shut too?" Christian asked.

"Well she kept yelling at me. I don't care if you guys think it's funny. I find her voice very annoying."

"Well we find everything about you annoying but we don't tie you down and duct tape your mouth shut," Mark pointed out. He grinned. "Actually, that sounds like a hell of a good idea." He started to get up, which made Miz vacate the room as fast as possible.

Raven came in a moment later. He had his new Slipknot CD in one hand and he had a black girl draped over his shoulder. "Put this in," he ordered as he tossed the CD to Christian. He threw the girl down on the floor. "Want to help torture the hooker Mark?"

"In a minute," Mark said. He got up. "I have to get a beer first." He walked into the kitchen. Cactus, James, Glenn and Dwayne were playing the game Seven Deadly Sins. "Wow, it's not Monopoly for once," he commented as he opened the refrigerator. "I'm shocked."

James shrugged. "They don't like playing Monopoly with me. They complain that I always win."

"Because you do always win," Dwayne pointed out. "Alright Glenn, let's see what you have to do since you got that question wrong." He picked up a sin card and looked at it. "Anger…anger…where is…oh there it is. Impersonate Jackie Chan fighting in one of his movies."

Mark actually stopped reaching for his beer so he could turn around to look at his brother. "Glenn, you can't seriously--"

Glenn got up and started wildly punching and kicking at the air while making weird kung fu sound affects. Dwayne and James started laughing so hard that they fell out of their chairs. Cactus just watched with a dumb look on his face. Glenn stopped and looked at everyone. "How was that?"

Mark slowly closed the refrigerator door. The beer had to be forgotten. He was going to need some strong whiskey to process the sight he had just seen. "Don't you ever do that again," he said to Glenn. "That was fucking scary, I'm not even going to lie."

"Okay, he's getting the chip thing," James said. He reached into a plastic baggie and pulled out a red chip. "Do you want to join us Mark?"

"No," Mark said immediately. "I'm going to go help Raven kill a hooker because that is good wholesome fun. That game is scary and evil and it must be destroyed." He took a drink of the whiskey straight from the bottle. He wasn't joking about that. He was planning on setting that game on fire. It had caused Glenn to traumatize him. _Take it out on the hooker_ he told himself as he went back into the living room. _It'll make you feel better._

XXXXXXXXX

Jeff slapped Shawn across the face a few times. "Come on, wake up you old bastard. I didn't even have any real fun yet. You can't pass out from pain yet. That's rude. It's very rude to pass out on your host."

Rebecca, who had tears streaming down her face, was shielding Cameron's eyes from what was happening. "Stop it," she begged. Her voice was cracking because she was in near hysterics. "Leave him alone."

Jeff cocked his head to the side. "You think I should stop?" He looked back at Melina, who was chained up against the wall all by herself. He had her in a position that would allow her to see everything that was happening. "What do you think sweetheart? Do you think I should stop?"

Melina nodded. She was crying too but her eyes had a wilder look in them than Rebecca's did. She still hadn't really recovered from being locked in the trunk for all that time. Being in the basement and watching her foster father getting tortured was only making things worse. _I think my insanity plan is working quite nicely_, Jeff thought to himself proudly.

Shawn groaned as he opened his eyes. "Yay, Daddy's up!" Jeff cheered. He plopped down on Shawn's lap, getting an agonized groan from the older man.

"Leave him alone," Melina pleaded. She was trying to force herself to calm down but it wasn't working very well. "I'll do anything you want, just let him and the others go."

Jeff wasn't listening to her. He saw the cross necklace Shawn was wearing. He hadn't noticed it before because he was too busy having fun. He touched the cross carefully. Grandma Hardy had worn one when she had been alive. He never forgot what hers looked like because it became embedded in his memory the day he killed her.

_October 31__st__, 1989_

_"Grandma hurry up!" Jeff yelled irritably. He was sitting on the couch waiting for his grandma to take him trick or treating. He was wearing his clown costume and he already had his bag in his hand. If only the damn priest Grandma was talking to would go away…"Grandma!" he yelled again. He was really starting to lose his patience. "I want my candy now!"_

_Grandma Hardy and the priest came into the living room. "Jeff come here," Grandma Hardy ordered. She was a big, solid woman with a no-nonsense attitude about her. _

_Jeff sighed and got up. "What? What did I do now? I just--hey! Let go Grandma!"_

_"I can't Jeffrey," she told him. "I saw those animal heads in that freezer you play with. I know what you've been doing. The devil lives inside you and he must be cast out."_

_The priest put a cross on Jeff's head and started chanting in some language Jeff couldn't understand. He growled and hissed angrily. He didn't like what was being done to him at all. "Leave me alone!" he shouted. He kicked the priest between the legs as hard as he could and bit his grandma so he could get away. He ran into the kitchen and grabbed the butcher knife that was sitting on the counter. Without even stopping to think, he drove the knife into Grandma Hardy's stomach._

_The shock in her eyes was almost comical. She sank down to her knees and just looked at him. He grinned crazily at her and stabbed her again, in the neck this time. The priest could be heard praying as he ran to the phone. Jeff was quicker than the old man was though. He stabbed the priest in the back until he fell to the ground and stopped moving. Then he walked back over to his grandma. The cross that was around her neck was stained with her blood. He ripped it off her body and looked at it closely. _

_That was the point that Matt walked in. He surveyed the damage Jeff had caused and just sighed. "Oh Jesus. Dad is going to be pissed."_

Jeff took the necklace off of Shawn. "Do you think that God will save you now?" he asked the older man. "Is God giving you strength right now? Is He with you now? Because I would like to see him if he is." He looked up at the ceiling. "Are you there God? Come on, help your boy out down here! Strike me down if you're so powerful!"

Shawn coughed several times. "You just don't get it," he managed to gasp out. "You'll never understand the true power of the Lord because of what you are."

"Oh really?" Jeff countered. "Maybe I'm just not looking in the right places." He took his knife and rested the point of it on Shawn's chest. "Maybe I just have to dig deeper to really find the Good Lord." He plunged the knife into Shawn's chest and dragged it down, opening the older man completely up. He used his hands to pull Shawn's ribcage apart. God was not hiding inside the man. _Maybe he's invisible or something_. His eyes drifted towards Cameron. _Or maybe he's hiding in something a little more pure._

Well, there was only one way to find out…


	19. Chapter 19

Stacy used her old hairbrush to brush Cheyanne's hair. "You have such beautiful hair," she said. "It's so pretty. It's just bringing out the inner stylist in me."

Cheyanne just looked at her through the mirror. "Where did my mommy and daddy go?"

"Yeah Stacy," Kelly added. Tammy had gotten her free from the duct tape chair but was keeping her from going to help Melina by keeping a gun pointed at her. "Tell her where her mommy and daddy are."

Tammy just glared at the teenaged girl. "I don't have to kill you with this thing you know," she said, indicating to the gun. "I can easily just shoot off some body parts."

Stacy turned Cheyanne around so she could look the little girl in the eyes. "Your mommy and daddy had to go away for awhile," she said. It wasn't a total lie. Shawn and Rebecca would be going away. But she left out the part where they were going to get horribly murdered and never come back. The girl was five. She didn't need to hear that. "So you and Melina are going to stay here with us from now on."

"But what about Cameron?"

"Well…we'll just have to wait and see. Cameron might have to stay with someone else."

"Who?"

Blood curdling screams made the four girls freeze. _Oh Jesus, now what?_ Stacy asked herself. She handed Cheyanne over to Tammy. "Keep her here. I'm going to find out what happened." She ran out of the room and found James was already heading to the basement. Mark was looking out the window and telling Raven to get the nearly dead hooker hidden. She couldn't hear exactly who was supposed to be coming because the screams were too loud. But whoever was coming was not someone Mark wanted to see.

"I really hope nobody hears all this racket," James muttered as he unlocked the basement door. "I really don't want to try to explain--Jeff what the hell?"

Stacy looked into the basement and nearly threw up. Now she had seen many gruesome things in her time. She had taken part in her share of bloody murders. But Jeff had taken Cameron and pretty much torn him apart limb from limb…and that wasn't just an expression this time. Melina and Rebecca just kept screaming and screaming and quite frankly, Stacy didn't blame them.

Jeff just looked up at them with a disappointed expression on his face. He was covered from head to foot in blood. "I didn't find God," he informed them.

Before they could make sense of that little statement, Mark came running down the stairs. "There are two fucking FBI agents coming to the door!" he snarled. "Kurt Angle and AJ Styles. They are going to be ringing the doorbell within two fucking seconds." He pushed past James and Stacy so he could get in the room to deliver a knockout shot to both Rebecca and Melina, effectively silencing them. "I made everyone else hide out in that secret room in your attic. You better fucking find a way to get rid of those agents and you better be careful about it. Kurt's paranoid as hell and he even suspects for an instant that you know anything…"

"I'll take care of it," James snapped. "Keep Jeff down here and keep him quiet by any means necessary." His eyes showed a determination that Stacy only saw when he was backed into a corner. There was no running this time. She grinned as she followed him out of the basement. He had fooled the police into believing that he had nothing to do with the disappearance of his parents. He also fooled the entire state into believing he was a new breed of politician that didn't need to lie to the people or be a dirty, slimy snake. If anyone could talk them all out of this situation, it was him.

Stacy went into the living room and picked up a magazine so it looked like she had nothing to be worried about. The couch had been moved a little bit to the right (no doubt in an effort to cover up a bloodstain from the hooker Raven had brought home). She heard James open the front door and a few minutes later, he was leading Kurt and AJ into the living room. "Stacy, this is Agent Angle and Agent Styles. Apparently they're the ones who are responsible for the sudden roadblocks that had been placed up on the city borders."

"And the state ones too," Kurt added. "There were reports of the serial killer Jeff Hardy being driven into this state. We can't take too many chances. We don't want him slipping through our fingers."

_Oh but he will slip through your fingers,_ Stacy thought to herself. _You're not going to get him. We'll never let you have him._ "I heard something about that," she said, completely and totally lying. "But I'm sure you've had complete and total cooperation from the police here."

"Oh we have," Kurt assured her. "That's why we're here for another reason. Have you heard from Mark Callaway lately?"

James shook his head. "No. I haven't seen him since Trish's funeral. Sara's called a few times asking me if I've seen him. Apparently he's run off and hasn't called in quite awhile."

AJ nodded. "At first we believed he was going to hunt Jeff down but now we're starting to believe that he's actually helping Jeff."

Stacy noticed he seemed to be trying to not be helping while appearing to be helping. _He doesn't want to find Jeff_, she realized. _He knows what's going to happen if they do find him. Smart boy. We can use that._

James pretended to look stunned by that news. "I don't believe that," he said vehemently. He was such a good actor that even Stacy believed that statement, even though she knew better. "Mark's a good man but he also can hold a grudge like nobody's business. He wouldn't forgive Jeff for what he did to Trish. There's no way that would ever happen."

"Are you sure?" Kurt asked. It was hard to tell if he sounded skeptical or if he was believing the lie.

"I'm positive," James said. "I'll contact you guys if I hear from him or if I see him, but I'm sure this is all some sort of misunderstanding."

Kurt and AJ both looked at each other. Stacy just smiled sweetly and did her best to look completely innocent. "You just keep your eyes open then," Kurt said. "And you be careful. People have the tendency to show you one face but there's someone completely different underneath it."

To Stacy, that sounded like he was trying to warn James about Mark. But still, the irony of it was that the agent had no idea that he was being fooled by the Master of Manipulation himself. Governor Lawson was James's "one face", as Kurt had so eloquently put it. Inside, James was probably laughing at Kurt and just dying to show him just how true his theory was.

"Yeah, well, you don't have to tell me that," James said. He smiled pleasantly and led the two agents out the door. "I learned that lesson a long time ago."

Stacy let out a sigh of relief when the agents were finally gone. "That was way too close," she said.

James turned around to face her. He had a big grin on his face. "And who does the Academy Award go to?"

"You," she answered.

He bowed dramatically. "And don't you ever forget it."

XXXXXXX

Karen was trying to cook dinner when the phone rang. "Damn it," she said. She was extremely busy and she didn't really have time for this. But she answered the phone anyway because she was hoping to hear from Kurt or AJ soon. "Hello?"

"Karen," AJ said in relief. "You're okay."

Karen smiled at the concern in his voice. She had never admitted it, but she had developed feelings for her husband's partner. In fact, deep down, she was more concerned for him than she was for Kurt. "Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because of the man we're after," AJ said. He was talking as quickly and quietly as he possibly could. "Jeff Hardy is dangerous and he might be aligned with Mark Callaway. James Lawson said he wasn't and we believe that's what he truly knows and believes, but we can't be sure of anything at this point."

"But didn't Mark use to--"

"Be our boss? Yes. We don't know if he's with Jeff for sure, but if he is and he finds out we're after him and Jeff, he could target you. Jeff's got a history of attacking the families of FBI agents. Mark can lead him straight to you. You need to take the kids and get somewhere where you won't be found. Don't go to family members because that'll be too obvious. If you can, you should probably just head to Canada or Europe. Get a prepaid cell phone and only call from that. This is serious Karen."

Karen sank down on to the couch. He sounded completely serious about this. "Why are you telling me this?" she asked. "Does Kurt know you're telling me this?"

"No," AJ answered. "He can't know what I'm saying. He can't know because…because…because I love you Karen." He suddenly cursed under his breath. "Kurt's coming back. I'll call you again when I get the chance."

Karen just sat there for a moment and listened to the dial tone. "I love you too," she said quietly. She hung up the phone and sat there for another minute. AJ loved her. He loved her back. Her happiness about that was replaced with panic. If Jeff really did want to target her, then she had to get herself and the kids as far away as possible. _I always did want to go to Paris_, she said as she ran upstairs to start packing her things. _That should be far enough away to not get found._


	20. Chapter 20

Mark was standing in the center of the room. With the exception of Rebecca, Melina and Cheyanne, everyone was gathered in the living room for a group meeting. Everyone but Jeff was paying attention to him. The rainbow haired man was sucking on a lollypop and bopping his head to some music he was hearing in his head. "Jeff," Mark said, hoping that would be all he needed to do to get Jeff to listen.

"Shush," Jeff ordered. "I'm not going to be able to remember the words if you talk."

Mark smacked him upside the head. "Hey! You better fucking pay attention. The feds know you're here and we can't get you out of the fucking city, let alone the state. They're checking every car they can because that's how badly they want to find you. So I'm making up a new rule: until we can somehow convince the feds that you're already out the state, you are not allowed to leave the house."

Now that caught Jeff's attention. "What?" he snapped. He took his lollypop out of his mouth and gave Mark a disbelieving look. "You can't keep me in this house. I want to go outside."

James sighed. "Jeff, we're only doing this for your own good. We don't need you getting caught while we're trying to sort out this FBI mess."

Mark could see that Jeff didn't give a damn about the FBI. Now that they had told him he couldn't do something, that was exactly what he wanted to go out and do. "You have two girls left in the basement. You can stay in and play with them until we get this all sorted out."

"Or I can kill all of you and be done with it," Jeff growled.

"Jeff be reasonable," Tammy pleaded. "We're just trying to protect you."

"Dude, you just told the psycho to be reasonable," Miz said. He was doing the smart thing and putting some distance between himself and Jeff. "Now let's stop and think about this for a second. Can Jeff be reasonable? Does anyone want to tell me if that's possible?"

Dwayne raised his hand. "I know the answer to that you little jabroni. The answer is no. Jeff is not a creature of reason. He doesn't even know what reason is."

"Hey I've said this like a million times over the years," Raven said. "But did anyone listen to me?"

"No, because you're always babbling about something," Christian told him.

Mark kept his eyes on Jeff as the younger man stood up and got in his face. He knew Jeff wasn't afraid of him. Jeff didn't know fear. But he was going to learn a little common sense, even if Mark had to beat it into his brain. There were times to run around and act like the homicidal maniac you were and there were times to play it smart.

"I stabbed you once Marky," Jeff said quietly. His insane eyes were filled with anger. "I can do it again but you might not live the second time."

Mark glared at him. "Go ahead and try it. You're not going outside no matter what until we say you can."

Jeff growled and lunged at Mark. Mark got him by the throat and tossed him across the room. He crashed into the wall with a loud thud and made a dent in it.

"Damn it!" James yelled. "One of you is fixing that!"

Mark watched Jeff get up to his feet. "Boy, you don't want to do this," he said. "You're going to regret it."

Jeff took his knife out of his pocket. "Oh yeah? Let's find out if that's true."

Mark started dodging each of Jeff's wild swings. The knife was getting closer and closer to slashing him. He finally managed to catch Jeff's wrist and squeezed it until the crazy bastard dropped the knife. "You are going to knock this shit off right now!" he ordered. "We do not have time for your bullshit!"

"Fuck you!" Jeff yelled as he kicked Mark between the legs. As Mark doubled over in pain, Jeff picked up his knife and went to stab him again. But this time James grabbed him and damn near broke his wrist by jerking him back entirely.

"That is enough!" James roared. He took the knife from Jeff and pretty much dragged the smaller man downstairs into the basement. "I'm not dealing with this bullshit right now! You are staying down there until we let you back up."

They could all hear Jeff screaming and cursing as James came back upstairs. Mark rubbed his groin and just shook his head at his long time friend. "Okay, you really sounded like your mother right there."

James glared at him. "Don't you even joke about that. My mother was a cunt of epic proportions. The less that's said about her, the better." He walked over to the phone. "I can make some calls and get some people say they've seen Jeff in Oregon. But we better take care of that Kurt Angle dude as fast as we can. That bastard is like John Cena, only it's not revenge that's motivating him. He's just a fucking zealot."

Mark nodded. James wasn't wrong about that. "We can use AJ though. He can easily be manipulated and he loves Kurt's wife Karen. He'll do anything to protect her."

"Even turn on Kurt?" Stacy asked.

"Especially turn on Kurt," Mark confirmed. "Trust me, all we need to do is put the idea that we're remotely interested in going after Karen in his head and he'll be bending over backwards to do whatever we want." He sat down in the reclining chair. "We don't even need to have the bitch. We just need to make him _think _we do."

Kelly just stared at him. "You're very diabolical, you know that?"

"Oh I know. That's was what I was aiming to be."

XXXXXXXXX

"Let me out!" Jeff screamed. He pounded against the locked basement door as hard as he could. "James! I'm not joking! You let me out right now or I'm going to kill you!" He screamed in frustration and beat the door until his hands felt like they were broken. Screaming again, he started throwing his entire body against the door. Damn James and Mark for their fucking need to control everything. Who cared if the FBI was out there? He hadn't been caught before and he wasn't planning on getting caught any time soon. It wasn't like there wasn't NO method to his madness. It was just that he was the only one who truly understood his method.

"FUCK!" Jeff roared. He collapsed to the floor and curled up into the fetal position. He hated being locked up. It reminded him of the time he had spent in the mental institution. Besides losing Beth and Matt, that had been the worst part of his life. That damn hospital had not helped his sanity in the least. In fact, it made him even crazier. The doctors had kept him drugged up all the time and had subjected him to some electroshock therapy, even though they had no permission to do it. They sent little electric shocks right into his brain and probably screwed him up even more than he already was.

He opened his eyes. Rebecca had her eyes closed and she was praying under her breath. He looked at Melina. She was just sitting there with an unreadable expression on her face. She wasn't even crying anymore. _She knows what's I'm going to do next_, he realized. _And she's shutting down. She can't take anymore._

"Do you think it was fate?" Jeff asked as he got up. He searched the basement until he found what he was looking for: James's power drill. "Do you think I was meant to lose Beth just so I could find you, Melina?" He walked over and knelt down beside Rebecca. "Or did I get ripped away from my soul mate and now I'm trying to remake you in her image?"

He didn't get an answer, but that didn't upset him for once. It was okay for her not to answer. It meant what he had set out to do was working. "Poor poor Melina," he cooed. He turned on the power drill and grinned at Rebecca. "Now this is my first time using one of these, but don't worry about a thing. This will hurt you a lot more than it will hurt me."


	21. Chapter 21

AJ was relieved when Kurt decided to go do some questioning with Booker instead of him. This little break would give him time to regroup, call Karen and then think of a way to subtly sabotage this investigation. There had been reported sightings of Jeff in Oregon, so the stranglehold on Nevada had been eased up somewhat. It wasn't gone completely because Kurt believed the whole Oregon thing could be a false alarm. He was growing more and more paranoid and manic with each passing day. It was becoming increasingly harder for AJ to put up with him. He almost wished Jeff would come out of hiding and the two of them could duke it out. And even though he wouldn't say it out loud, he was kind of rooting for the psycho.

AJ's phone rang, bringing him out of his thoughts. "Hello?" he said, hoping it wasn't Kurt.

"Hello AJ," Mark said pleasantly. He sounded downright evil now. "I heard you were looking for me."

AJ sat straight up. "Why are you calling me Mark?"

"Because I'd rather deal with you than with Kurt. I mean, you're much more reasonable than he is. And let's not forget the fact that you care about his wife Karen more than he does."

"Listen, I don't know why you're with Jeff and I frankly don't care. You just stay away from Karen."

"Now you see, I would do that if I didn't already have her." From Mark's end of the phone, a woman let out a horrifying shriek.

AJ felt his world crashing down on him. He couldn't be one hundred percent certain if that was Karen or not, but he couldn't take any chances. She could have not run in time, or they had caught her trying to get away. "Let her go you bastard! What the fuck is your problem?"

Mark chuckled. "You want to know what my problem is? My problem is that I've taken Jeff under my wing and now I have to hide him in a basement because you FBI fucks don't know when to back off."

"Well what the fuck does Karen have to do with this?" AJ snapped.

"She's what I like to call a bargaining chip. Here's what you need to do Styles, if you want to guarantee her safety for a little while. You need to come back to James Lawson's house, only you need to come alone this time. If you even dare to try and sneak some back-up along, I will let Jeff have full access to Karen and I will make you watch him kill her. You got that?"

"Yes," AJ said with a nod. "I've got it." He hung up, slipped his shoes on and ran out to his car. The only thing on his mind was saving Karen. He knew that this could just end up being a trap of some sort, but he didn't care. If he could keep Karen from getting killed, then he was okay with possibly dying himself. He truly believed she was worth giving his life up for.

It took him an hour and a half to get all the way back to James Lawson's house. When he got there, he found James waiting for him on the front porch.

"Hello Agent Styles," James said. He had a huge smirk on his face. "It's nice you decided to come back so soon."

"You son of a bitch," AJ snarled. His hands were balled up into little fists. "You knew where Mark and Jeff were the entire time, didn't you?"

James nodded. "Of course I did. They were hiding in my basement. You and Kurt had no idea how well I played you." He grabbed AJ and pushed him up against the house. "Hold still for a second." He patted the smaller man down for weapons. "Good boy, you're really serious about saving Karen." He shoved AJ into the house as roughly as he could. "Too bad she's not here to be saved."

AJ's eyes widened. Son of a bitch, he had been duped again! "But when I was on the phone with Mark, I heard screaming…"

James chuckled. "That was courtesy of Rebecca Michaels, who could possibly be dead by now. I don't know for sure. We haven't risked opening the basement door because we know Jeff will try to get out." He forced AJ to go into the living room where Mark, Stacy and a group of people AJ didn't know were sitting. "Look what I found boys and girls."

Mark grinned at AJ. "Wow, you must really love Karen to risk coming back here."

AJ glared at him. "You don't even have her, you fucking liar."

"No I don't. Not at the moment anyway. But believe me, I will find her and kill her in a heartbeat if you don't do what we want you to do."

Every psycho in the room was staring a hole through AJ. He looked at each of him, wondering how these people slept at night. _No, who cares how they sleep? I just need to keep myself and Karen alive_. "What do you want me to do?"

James let out a whoop. "Now that's the spirit AJ!"

Mark nodded. "You're doing the smart thing Styles."

"Just tell me what you want so I can get out of here."

"Okay, okay, don't get all pissy. What we want you to do is simple. Tomorrow morning, you're going to tell Kurt you received a tip that Jeff and I are hiding out in the desert. You're going to drive him at least ten miles into that lovely desert and then you are going to kill Kurt."

"He's very problematic for both of us. Killing him will help everyone involved," Stacy said helpfully.

"And once you've killed Kurt," Mark went on, "you'll bury his body and then call me to assure me that the deed is done."

"And then what?" AJ asked, resisting the urge he had to throw up.

"Then you will take over as lead investigator in this case and you will find a way to call everyone off Jeff for good. Have him declared dead. Say he went to Europe or Mexico or fucking Africa for all I care. If you can do it AJ, then you have my word that we will not go near you or Karen for the rest of your lives."

AJ took a deep breath. He was nuts for even considering this, but what else could he do? It was too late to back out now. "Okay," he agreed. "I'll do it."

"Good boy," Mark said with a grin. He took the plate from the woman sitting next to it and held it out to AJ. "Pizza roll?"

"Uh…no thanks," AJ said slowly. "I should get going. I don't need Kurt to get suspicious."

James grinned. "Yeah, you need him trusting you for tomorrow. We don't want him getting suspicious of you before then." He sighed wistfully. "Just think though. After tomorrow, with Kurt out of the way, you can be with Karen all you want."

Mark snickered. "It's like a Greek tragedy or something. One man kills his partner to save himself and the partner's wife and they live happily ever after…or will they?" He and James began to cackle evilly, which prompted AJ to do the smartest thing he had done all day: he got the hell out of there.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Melina didn't remember when Jeff had unchained her. She had lost track of a lot of things. Right now, she was really only aware of two things. One: Jeff was literally running to the walls and bouncing off them. Being cooped up had caused him to go stir crazy, which was not a good thing when he was crazy to begin with. The other thing she was aware of was the fact Rebecca was dying a very slow death. Jeff had put the drill in her mouth and had left it on until her teeth were knocked out and her tongue was a mangled into tiny pieces. She had other holes in her body too, but none of them had killed her yet. They probably would eventually, but at the moment, they were just prolonging her suffering.

Suffering. Melina knew all about suffering now. It felt like it was the only thing she had ever known. But she was starting to realize that the moments she was able to escape inside her own mind, she wasn't suffering anymore. She wasn't hurting constantly anymore. It was nice. It was what she needed. She needed the escape, even just for a little while.

But Rebecca's pain filled moans wouldn't allow her that escape. They kept bringing her back to reality. Melina slowly crawled across the ground and grabbed Jeff's fallen knife. She was aware that he was watching her very carefully. "I need to do this, I have to do it," she whispered over and over again. "I have to escape, I must escape." She crawled over to Rebecca and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry, I have to go away, I have to disappear," she said quickly, hoping Rebecca was conscious enough to understand. She let out a cry and brought the knife down into her foster mother's chest.

Jeff let out a surprised laugh. "Do it again! Do it again!"

Melina opened her eyes and slowly turned around to face him. "Melina is not home right now," she said slowly, not even really aware that she was speaking. "Please leave a message after the beep." She paused for a moment. "Beep."

Jeff just gave her a confused look for a moment before giggling and tackling her to the floor. "Well if you're not Melina, I don't know who you are then," he informed her. "And I don't care. It's time to make James and Mark pay for this crap. I'm going to have some spawn with you. That'll show them."


	22. Chapter 22

AJ's palms were sweating like crazy as he drove deeper into the desert. Kurt was unconscious in the backseat. AJ had drugged his drink a couple of hours ago and now he was finally passed out. No matter how much his conscious was screaming at him, AJ knew this needed to be done. It had to be done for Karen's sake. It was going to be the only way to keep her safe. No matter how badly his conscious was screaming at him, he couldn't stop now. This was the point of no return.

He found himself wondering how Jeff and them could do this. How could they bring themselves to kill people? Did another human's life really mean so little to them? Did he even want the answers to those questions? Somehow, he sincerely doubted that. He turned his mind towards Karen. A couple of hours after he had left James's house for the second time, she had called him from a prepaid cell phone, just like he had told her to. They were currently in New York and they were set to leave for Paris this morning. He was thankful that he she had taken his advice so seriously. It was going to make things easier in the long run.

Finally, just as Kurt was beginning to stir again, AJ pulled over. This spot was just as good as any. He got out of the car and walked around to the passenger's side door. "Fuck, I am so going to hell for this," he muttered as he opened the door and dragged Kurt out of the car. He roughly through Kurt to the ground and took out his gun. As much as he really didn't like Kurt, and even though he was doing this to save Karen's life, this was still fucked up and wrong. He knew that. He was playing directly into Mark and James's hands, but he didn't see another choice in the matter.

Kurt opened his eyes slowly. He had a faraway dazed look in them. It sounded like he was about to ask a question, but AJ didn't let him get that far. AJ shot him twice in the head without hesitating, because he knew if he even began to think about what he was doing even more, he wouldn't go through with what needed to be done.

For a long moment, AJ just stood perfectly still. His gun was still raised and pointed at Kurt. His hand was starting to shake. He took several deep breaths before running over to the other side of his car and threw up all over the place. Once he was done doing that, he got the shovel out of the trunk and began to dig a hole. It was hard doing it all by himself, and by the time he finally got it to a decent depth, he felt like he was going to pass out. Despite that though, he forced himself drag Kurt's body into the hole and place the sand back on top of it.

After he was done with that, he got back in the car, started it up and just sat in the comfort of the air conditioning for awhile. He was finding it hard to even comprehend what he had just done. Still feeling, sick to his stomach, he got his phone out and dialed Mark's number.

"Hello?" Mark said gruffly. He sounded like he had been woken up.

"I killed Kurt," AJ said flatly. "I'm coming back to town now."

"Do you remember the rest of the deal?"

"Of course I remember the rest of the deal. I clear Jeff's name for good. Do you remember your end of the bargain?"

"You do what we want and we leave you and Karen alone forever," Mark said. He sounded amused and annoyed at the same time. "God, you must really love her to be willing to do all this."

"Yeah, I really do," AJ said. He hung up the phone and started driving. He had no idea of how the hell he was going to get Jeff out of this mess, but he knew he was going to have to think of something very spectacular very quickly. There was no other alternative at this point. _God, this is going to be so much fun,_ he thought sarcastically.

XXXXXXXX

Kelly knew she was stupid for doing this. This was as dangerous and as stupid as something could get. But despite knowing this, she found herself sneaking downstairs into the basement anyway. She had to see Melina. Her friend had been screaming off and on for hours now, and she just couldn't take it anymore. So she slipped into the basement carefully, armed with a knife and a baseball bat just in case Jeff tried anything funny.

Melina was in the corner scratching at the walls. Her fingernails were torn and bleeding, and she was dressed in only her bra and panties. "One two three four, one two three four," she muttered madly. The lights were definitely on, but nobody was home.

"Oh no," Kelly moaned. "Oh honey." She took a step towards Melina.

Jeff came running out of nowhere and held up a skull just inches away from Kelly's face. "Look what I found!"

Kelly screamed and jumped backwards. "Oh my God! What the hell is that?"

"It's the biggest piece of Caroline Lawson that I could find," he told her.

"Caroline Lawson?"

"James's mommy. He really didn't like her. He killed his mommy and his daddy and his brother." Jeff stopped and frowned. "I think he said he had a sister once, but I don't remember if he killed her too." He shrugged. "Oh well. That doesn't matter now."

Kelly watched him put the skull back where he had found him and grab a photo album instead. Her presence didn't seem to bother him in the least. "Do you ever wonder what it would be like to not be crazy?"

He frowned as he handed her the album. "Why would I wonder that?"

Kelly shrugged and started looking through the album. The first picture she saw was of Caroline Lawson. Suddenly she didn't blame James for being nuts anymore. The woman that was supposed to be his mother looked like she would be a heinous bitch. Her horse-like face was bony and pointed and her cold gray eyes held no real emotion. She flipped to the next page and saw two men who probably were James's father and brother, but they were much shorter and fatter.

"Joseph and Jacob," Jeff whispered. "James hated them to."

"Who didn't James hate?" Kelly muttered as she turned the page again.

The next picture was of James and a girl. They looked to be about fifteen or sixteen in the picture. James was embracing the girl from behind and they both look sadistically happy. But that wasn't what scared Kelly. What actually scared her was the close resemblance they shared…and the embrace that did not look so innocent. Making sure to be extra careful, Kelly took the picture out of the album and looked at the back. Written in pen, the back said **The twins: James and Annabelle**.

"Mommy!" Jeff exclaimed.

Kelly looked at him, completely startled by that outburst. "What?"

"That's my mommy!"

Kelly held the picture up to Jeff's face. "Oh my God," she whispered. "Does this mean you'r--"

James came in the room at that moment. He took one look at the picture Kelly was holding and he groaned. "Crap. It looks like I have a lot of explaining to do."


	23. Chapter 23

Jeff just stared at James. He had no idea what to think at this point. This picture had obviously brought out something that was supposed to be a secret. "My mother is in this picture," he said. He took it from Kelly and held it up.

James looked uneasy. This was obviously the last subject he wanted to be talking about. "Kelly go upstairs," he ordered. "I need to talk to Jeff alone."

Kelly looked back at Melina. "But what about--"

"Take her upstairs and clean her hands off."

Kelly went over and helped Melina up to her feet. Jeff just kept looking at the picture in his hands. Not once during all these years did James ever mention knowing his mother, let alone actually being her win. And what was with the name Annabelle? He remembered his dad always calling her Ruby. He knew he got confused sometimes when it came to his childhood, but he remembered everything about his mother perfectly.

James didn't speak until the girls were gone. "You better listen carefully Jeff, because I'm not going to tell this story more than once. Mark is the only other one in this house that knew about Annabelle. The other Ministry members never even met her, but that was for a good reason." He sighed and made Jeff sit down on a crate that was in the middle of the room. "Annabelle and I were closer than most twins when we were kids. We had to be to get through the bullshit my parents put us through." He shook his head. "I was real screwed up when I was a kid. I had too many issues. A lot of people thought Joseph kicking the crap out of me until I was big enough to fight back was the problem, but that wasn't it. Caroline was the real problem. The one thing I wanted as a kid was for her to at least show me an ounce of love. I just wanted one little confirmation that she cared about me the slightest bit. I never got it. No matter what I did, I couldn't get her to love me. It made me very bitter and it warped me even more, which was bad because I was warped to begin with."

Jeff studied the older man carefully. "What does this have to do with my mother?"

James bit his lip. "She was the first person…no, the only person to love me unconditionally. And when we were kids, that love was innocent. But then when we became teenagers, Joseph and Jacob noticed what a woman she was becoming. They wanted to take her from me. They were sick, but they didn't know I could be sick too. I couldn't let them have her…so I took her first."

For the first time ever, Jeff was actually thrown for a loop. "You had sex with my mother? You had sex with your own sister?"

"I told you I was warped. I did it to spite everyone. I wanted to show my dad and my brother that they couldn't have what was mine. I wanted to piss off my mother and earn the title of freak she had given me. But things got weird after that. Annabelle and I still loved each other, but we started to hate each other too. Sometimes she wanted me but other times she couldn't stand to be anywhere near me. She had more morals than I did. Our relationship was fucked up by all standards, but no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't resist me for long. And I did love her. I really did. But I hated her too. I blamed her for me hating myself. I knew what I was doing was fucked up and it was going to hurt everyone in the end, but I couldn't make it stop. I think I was drawn to her because she was on a completely different spectrum than I was. Even if our relationship corrupted her, deep down, she was still a good person. She wasn't evil like I was. She wasn't a killer like me."

"I've told you before that I killed my parents and my brother. I did it carefully to make sure no suspicion would fall on me. But what nobody besides Mark and now you knows is that I also did it for Annabelle. She was just as much a prisoner as I was. We were both messes back then. She was hurting and I was acting as crazy as you do now. And that just left poor Mark to pick up the pieces."

"He actually put up with all your bullshit?" Jeff couldn't help but ask.

James chuckled. "Yeah. I think the only reason he did it was because the train wreck that was us was too fascinating to ignore. Anyway, he became the rock that kept us grounded. We relied on him. I was friends with him first but Annabelle grew attached to him. But then one night, she fucked it up. He fucked it up. She got into an argument with me and she ran off to Mark for comfort. They had sex and I found out the next morning. She did it because she wanted to hurt me. She was tired of playing our games. Mark just did it for the sex. He wasn't going to turn down nookie. But I know he actually was afraid of me a little back then. He won't admit it now, but I could tell he believed that I would get him for that. Even though he didn't know that I was having a sexual relationship with her, he still knew I was very possessive of her."

"When did you tell him?"

"The next day, when I told him to come over and I made sure he walked in on us doing it. The look on his face was priceless. I don't think he saw that coming. But that fucked up everything even more. Annabelle and I couldn't stop what we were doing. She tried finding normalcy with Mark but didn't really succeed in that. She just managed to find a lover that wasn't her brother. And then Mark and I…well I knew I was bisexual by then. I think he was more curious than anything else. And maybe afraid to say no. I'm not joking when I say that back then, I could have given you a real run for your money in the psycho department."

Jeff just stared at James. This was the most disturbing yet fascinating story he had ever heard in his life. He wasn't sure if he wanted to hear more, yet he couldn't stop listening.

James didn't say anything for a minute. "She fell in love with Gilbert Hardy when she was seventeen. At least she said she was in love. She was still sleeping with both Mark and I at the time. But then she got pregnant with Matt. I think it snapped some sense into her. She knew there was a chance it could be my baby. I knew if it was, it would make me lose her forever. She married Gil and ran away with him. I was devastated. I grew to be real recluse. It took Mark and the Ministry of Darkness forever to bring me back out. I felt so abandoned. I latched on to Mark, Raven and then Hunter. I didn't want another girl. If I was going to have a girl, it had to be her."

"A couple years went by, and I couldn't take it anymore. I hunted her down and found her. She had changed her name to Ruby Hardy by this point. She and Gil were raising Matt and they were happy. I spied on them for a couple of weeks before making my move. I knew instantly that Matt wasn't Gil's or mine. He was Mark's baby. I didn't need DNA testing to tell me that. She later admitted that was probably true, but it didn't matter. Mark didn't want kids back then and Gil did. Gil was a better father than we would have been back then anyway, I'll admit that."

"Anyway, I reinserted myself back into her life. Our affair started up again. She grew to hate me more and more. I found myself caring less and less. Things were spiraling out of control. Gil started getting suspicious. Mark was getting fed up with me. He gave me an ultimatum: I either came back home and stopped the shit, or he was leaving. He would abandon me. I relied on him too much back then so I went back home. I thought I finally was over her. I was obsessing about her less and less. I started seeing other women. But then nine months later, Annabelle called me. She dropped the biggest bombshell ever. She said they had found out Gil had been impotent for years. I don't know how they did find that out, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that she was pregnant when they found out. She was pregnant with my child. Jeff…she was pregnant with you."

The phrase "awkward silence" took on a whole new meaning. Jeff didn't know what to say or think at this point. He just stared at James for a long time. "You're my father?" he finally whispered.

James nodded. "I was never supposed to tell you this. I wasn't supposed to have anything to do with you. If she was still alive and she knew we were here talking about this, she would have a heart attack."

"She died twenty two years ago," Jeff growled. He got up and got in James's face. "She's been dead for twenty two years. You had plenty of time to say something. You had plenty of time to claim me. But first you let Hunter have me and you've been trying to have Mark act as my dad. Why won't you lay claim to me?" He was shocked by how angry he was starting to sound.

James just stared at him for a long time. It didn't seem like he was going to answer, but then he finally decided to speak. "I thought about telling you when I knew I was finally going to meet you," he said slowly. "I already cared about you before I even met you. But then I saw you…and I couldn't do it. I wasn't ready to have you constantly being around me."

"Why?" Jeff demanded. "Because I'm too much like you?"

"No. I could deal with that. The problem was…no, the problem _is _that you look too much like _her_. Every time I look into your eyes, I see her. That's why I've kept a certain amount of distance from you. The only thing I should be to you is your uncle, and that is what I need to keep being." He started to walk away, but then he stopped and turned around. "I was also right about how her having my child would drive her away forever. I never saw her after I left North Carolina. The last time I heard her voice, it was telling me she hated me because I put a monster inside of her. And she was right you know. You are a monster Jeff. You're a monster, just like me. The apple never does fall far from the tree." He looked down and quickly left the room, leaving Jeff to think about everything he had just been told all alone in the dark.


	24. Chapter 24

Mark pushed the girl up against the wall. He hadn't been home for hours. He had been out hunting for hours now. There hadn't been any real victim in mind when he had set off on his journey. It was just one of those times that he knew the perfect victim when he found her.

"Please," the girl begged. Tears were streaming down her face. "Let me go. I need to get home, my mom's going to be so mad…"

He made a mock sympathetic face. "Well I guess she's going to be mad for a long time then." He took out his knife and stabbed her in the stomach. She made a shocked little gasping noise and then a painful squeak as he twisted the knife harder. He yanked the weapon out and then used it to carve out her eyes. Then he let her body fall to the ground and put her eyes in his pocket. They would probably amuse Jeff for a little while.

"I fucked up Mark. I fucked up real bad."

Mark turned around and saw James approaching him slowly. He knew instantly that his long time friend and old lover had done something he probably should not have. "What did you do?" he asked immediately. "What the fuck did you do?"

"I told Jeff everything," James confessed. "I told him all about me and Annabelle and you. He knows you were Matt's dad and he knows I'm his."

Mark just stared at the man in front of him. He could not believe what he was hearing. "You did what?" He smacked James as hard as he could. "What the fuck were you thinking you idiot? Why would you tell him all that? Have you completely lost your mind?"

James began to laugh manically. He really did look like he had completely lost his mind. "I told him that he was a monster. I looked my own son in the eyes and I told him that he was a monster."

"Well who's fucking fault is that then?" Mark smacked James around some more. He knew they should be getting away from the dead girl's body, but he couldn't bring himself to do that at the moment. James's fucking stupidity had distracted him. "You're the one who fucked your twin sister! You're the one who fucking got her pregnant! You and Annabelle are the ones to fucking blame for this _entire_ fucking mess in the first fucking place! You--"

James grabbed his hand and damn near broke his arm with one good twist. "You fucking smack me one more time, I will fucking remind you where Jeff got his true psychotic tendencies," he snarled. "I am not in the fucking mood to play your fucking punching bag."

Mark yanked his arm free. "Don't you fucking threaten me!" he snarled back. Two could play this nasty game. "If you fucking expected sympathy out of me, you're even crazier than I thought. I'm not the one who got you into this mess. You did that yourself when you fucked Annabelle all those years ago."

James grinned. "Aw, someone's still jealous."

"Me? You think I'm jealous? Get over yourself James. I have never been jealous and I never will be." Mark started to walk away, but James grabbed him and slammed him up against the side of the nearest building.

"You used to be jealous," James said. He was almost cooing with joy now. It was probably only a matter of time before he started foaming at the mouth. "You also used to be afraid of me." He licked his lips. "You can deny it, but I know the truth. You had good reason to be afraid…just like you do now."

Mark stared at James carefully. He knew James dangling way too close to the edge to do anyone good. If the wrong thing was said, James would go flying off the handle and then all hell would break loose. A completely psychotic James was a lot worse than an enraged Jeff because James was a lot bigger and stronger than Jeff was. And quite frankly, Mark wasn't sure if he would be able to stop James on his own without getting seriously hurt. "You do not want to do this James," he said quietly. "What is this going to prove? This isn't going to fix anything. This isn't going to change what you told Jeff and it isn't going to change anything between us."

James took several deep breaths before growling and resting his head against Mark's. "What the fuck are we doing?" he asked quietly. "How the fuck did we get this fucked up?"

"We? What's this we shit? Just because I kill people doesn't mean I'm not somewhat normal," Mark snapped before he could stop himself.

James wasn't paying any attention to him. "The Ministry's back together…fuck, what was the point the first time? We were never like a fucking cult the first time around! We were just a bunch of guys who all liked to kill people and for some odd reason, play fucking board games. Then there's Tammy and Stacy…what are we going to do with these bitches? Settle down, have a family? I think I've proved that me procreating is the last thing on earth I need to be doing."

"Okay, so you fucked up with Jeff," Mark said. "That's obvious. But it's not too late to fix it. Be a fucking man and own up to your mistakes. Be the fucking father you needed to be from the fucking beginning."

James started to chuckle. "Me? You want me to man up and be a father? What about you? You never even tried to go meet Matt. You've abandoned the two kids you had with Sara."

"Yeah, well this isn't about me, now is it? This is about you and Jeff." Mark pushed James away from him. "You want to know what your fucking problem is?"

James snorted. "Sure. Go ahead and tell me wise one. Tell me what my fucking problem is."

"You feel guilty about the shit you put Annabelle through. You feel bad because you manipulated her into staying in that fucked up mess you called a relationship. And you don't know how to fuck to deal with that. You hate feeling guilty, because it means you did something wrong and it fucking kills you to admit it. But you have got to quit fucking hiding from this shit. Jeff needs a fucking father that can even begin to understand his way of thinking. You were like him before you started taking those anti-psychotic pills." Now Mark started to brace himself, because what he was about to say next was likely to get him stabbed. "And if you don't at least try to make things okay with Jeff…you're going to be just as bad as your own mother."

James didn't move a muscle for a long time. Mark could almost the see the cogs turning in the bastard's crazy head and he got out a knife to defend himself. Finally, James started to nod. "You're right," he admitted. "You know your shit Dr. Mark, I give you that. I do need to fix this mess somehow."

Mark slowly put his knife away. He was probably making a mistake, but he found himself wanting to give his old lover the benefit of the doubt. "Now see? Was it that hard to admit that?"

James shrugged. "A little bit. But there's one thing that I need to do real quick before I go talk to my psychotic incestuous love child."

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

James head butted Mark so hard that Mark's nose broke on impact. "THAT was for even daring to compare me to my mother. You know better than to do that Marky."

"Son of a fucking bitch!" Mark yelled. His nose was just gushing blood and the pain was fucking terrible. "I think you fucking shattered it, you fucking idiot!" He slugged James right in the face. "How fucking hard is your head anyway?"

"Oh it's still pretty hard." To prove his point, James deliberately head butted the brick building they were standing near as hard as he could. The impact should have given him a concussion, but he just shook it off easily. "You used to get pissed as hell when I did that all the time. You said I was going to give myself brain damage."

"Well you definitely did that, you stupid bastard." Mark's phone rang before he could really get into his tirade. "What?" he snapped as he answered it. "What do you want?"

"We've got a problem," Tammy said immediately. "Jeff's gone."

"What? What the fuck do you mean by gone?"

"I mean he ran away. We tried to stop him but he just plowed right over us."

"Shit." Mark put his hand over the mouthpiece of the phone and looked at James. "Jeff ran away you fucking idiot. You really screwed this up." He kicked James in the shin out of frustration before turning his attention back to his conversation with Tammy. "Do you have any idea where he went?"

"No. We're out looking for him but we really don't know where to even start looking." The worry was very apparent in her voice. "AJ's still working on getting Jeff's name cleared. If he gets caught before then…"

"We'll find him," Mark interrupted. "He couldn't have gone that far yet." He hung up the phone. "James---wait, where the fuck did you go?" He looked around. James was long gone. He sighed. "Damn it. I wanted to kick him one more time before we started looking." He started walking out of the alley. "Fuck, why do I put up with him? All the bastard does is drive me fucking bat shit crazy…"


	25. Chapter 25

Jeff had no idea where he was going. He had taken off in a complete rage only now he had no idea where to go next. He just kept walking around, trying to sort through everything that was going through his mind. James was his father and his uncle. Somehow, he had the feeling that explained a lot of things. For years, everyone just thought he was crazy for no apparent reason. He had kind of liked that. He wasn't a person of reason in any sense of the imagination. Chaos and murder were what he specialized in. But now everything was different. The ugly truth had come out and he didn't know what to do. Part of him wanted to kill James. Another part of him wanted to kill Mark. Mark had to have known. James and Mark were closer than anyone else Jeff knew. Even though they acted like they wanted to kill each other half the time, there was still a very strong and bizarre bond there. Only a total morn wouldn't be able to see it.

"I'll just kill them both then," Jeff muttered to himself. That would fix everything. When in doubt, kill something and do it in the nastiest way possible. He would make both James and Mark pay for this. He would make them pay for upsetting him. He hadn't felt this bad since Beth and Matt had died. Only this was a different kind of bad. When they died, he had felt sad, but now he just felt angry and unwanted. And he didn't like feeling like that. Hell, he didn't like feelings unless he was happy. Then he was perfectly fine with feeling that way.

Suddenly, from across the street, he saw James walking around. It appeared that his father was looking for someone. _Probably me_, Jeff realized. _The others probably called him and Mark and told them I ran off._ He started to follow James. It was really hot outside and it was hard not to stop in the grocery store he passed and go buy something to drink, but he managed to keep following James. He followed him all the way into an old warehouse that smelled like stale blood and cigarettes. That was where he lost James completely.

"Where the fuck did you go?" Jeff muttered. He looked around. "Here Daddy. Come here Daddy." He took his knife out of his pocket. "Come meet my friend Mr. Pointy over here."

Suddenly someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and met a fist that connected directly with his mouth. It actually made him drop his knife and he was falling to the ground when the person who punched him caught him just in the nick of time.

"Sorry Jeffro," James said. He got Jeff steady on his feet and grabbed the knife before Jeff could. "I didn't want to do it that way, but I didn't want to get stabbed."

Jeff shoved James as hard as he could. He could taste blood coming from his lip and he didn't like it. "Son of a bitch! How the hell did you know I was following you?"

"I saw you long before you saw me," James said with a grin. He looked pretty happy with himself. "I just made you think that you saw me first." He examined Jeff's knife carefully. "I gave you this."

Jeff glared at him. "Well you're about to get it back." He lunged at James, but the larger man swatted him down like a fly.

"Do you really want to do this Jeff?" James asked. He didn't seem the least bit concerned about his life now that he had the knife. "Do you really want to fight me? Because I don't want to fight you."

"Too bad." Jeff punched James in the face as hard as he could. "I guess I'll have to do all the fighting then." He kicked James in the stomach and took out his second knife. He lunged at James again, and this time he managed to graze his dad's arm. He didn't get the full stab like he wanted though, because James moved just enough to knee him in the stomach hard enough to knock all the wind out of him.

"I said I didn't want to fight you," James said regretfully. "I never said I wouldn't though." He tossed Jeff across the room easily.

Jeff winced as he landed with a painful thud on the floor. "Why don't you want to fight me?" he growled as he got back up to his feet. "It's not like you really want me anyway."

James shrugged. "Maybe Mark talked some sense into me. He's good at that you know. He may not be able to feel all that much when it comes to emotions, but he knows me too damn well." He watched Jeff very carefully. "You do remind me a lot of myself when I was younger. I was completely out of my mind for years. Sometimes I miss it." He looked down at Jeff's knife again. "I know you want me dead right now. I understand it. But it's not going to happen. Not here, not now, not ever."

"Oh yeah?" Jeff said defiantely. "Why not?"

"Because I'll kill you first."

The room was quiet for a few minutes. "But you can't kill me," Jeff said with a pout. "That is not how this is going to work. I'm supposed to kill you, dance on your body and then go kill Mark."

"Well I've changed the plan," James informed him. His finger was now tracing the blade of the knife. "Now if you really want to, you can try to kill me. Key word is try. You're as nasty as they come Jeffey, I'll give you that. But I was nasty long before you were born and just because you're my son doesn't mean I won't put you down to defend myself."

"Defend yourself? You hit me first!"

"Because you were going to stab me."

"Well that's not the point!" Jeff kicked a random box as hard as he could. "I really hate you right now."

"Oh I don't doubt that. But I think this will change your mind." James reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bag of cookies.

Jeff glared at him. "That's not going to work."

"Yeah, I figured that." James then pulled out a bag of Skittles and dangled both items in front of Jeff's face. "Truce?"

Jeff tried to hang on to his anger. He really, really did. But the temptation of candy and cookies were too much. "You fight dirty you bastard," he snarled as he took the treats and started devouring them.

James grinned. "That's what everyone tells me. Personally, I like—" His words were cut off by a loud banging outside. They went over to the window and looked out just in time to see Mark stabbing a random dude. "Oh Marky," James said with a sigh. He looked at Jeff. "I think it's time we get the hell out of—" He stopped and grinned.

"What?" Jeff asked. "Why are you grinning? It's rude to grin and not tell me why."

"I think I have an idea. We need to go see if Miz has any more dynamite from when he and Morrison played terrorists and then we need to fake ourselves a death."

"Who's death?"

"Your death." James put his arm around Jeff. "Death by explosion. That would be the ultimate blaze of glory, now wouldn't it?"

Jeff considered that. "I don't atually have to go boom, do I?"

"No, of course not."

"Okay then. Let's do it."

XXXXXXX

AJ was woken up from his restless sleep by his phone ringing. "Hello?" he said groggily, barely answering it in time.

"Oh AJ," James said happily. "I think I made a big enough mess for you to get Jeff some freedom."

AJ was now instantly awake. He had spent hours trying to think of ways to do just that, but he hadn't come up with anything believable. "What did you do?"

"Well let's just say I made a warehouse go boom. And now you're going to say Jeff went boom with it. Do you think you can handle that?"

"Well what's the "official" reason the warehouse exploded?"

"The kid didn't know dynamite blew up."

AJ almost laughed, but he stopped himself. If the profile on Jeff was half as accurate as it was supposed to be, then that wouldn't be unbelivable at all. "Okay," he said. "Give me a day or two and I can make it work."

"Sweet. Oh and AJ?"

"Yeah?"

"If you had a homicidal incestous love child, what would you get him for his birthday now that he knows you're his dad?"

AJ frowned. That was officially the weirdest question he had ever been asked. "Uh…therapy?"

James chuckled. "That's a good answer. I think I'll give him a therapist to kill." With that, he hung up, leaving AJ to wonder what the hell that was all about.


	26. Chapter 26

"So let me get this straight," Miz said slowly. He, Kelly, Dwayne, Christian and Raven had just sat down at in a restaurant. They had been trying to look for the perfect birthday present for Jeff, but their stomachs had told them it was time to stop and take a break. "James used to fuck his twin sister Annabelle."

"Yes," Dwayne confirmed. "Only nobody but Mark knew James even had a twin sister."

"Not even you guys?" Kelly asked Raven and Christian.

Raven shook his head. "Not even us."

"But how could he keep that a secret?" Miz asked. The secrets that had finally been revealed were really blowing his mind. He had lived with James for years and he had never known any of this. "And how could he muster up the will to fuck his sister?"

Christian shrugged. "You're underestimating how truly twisted and disturbed he really is. I mean, I knew he had some sort of issues for years, but I actually didn't really want to know. I figured Mark would just take care of it and everything would be fine."

Dwayne shook his head. "You know, now that we know that James is actually Jeff's real father, I'm shocked none of us realized this sooner."

"Well to be fair, James and Mark actually know how to keep a secret," Raven pointed out. He ruffled Miz's hair affectionately. "See, Mizzie here has basically been stalking some Ashley girl every week when she comes here with her friends. He's got a big old crush on her boys and girls."

Miz gave Raven an annoyed look. "I do not have a crush on her you asshole. And this isn't just some girl. Ashley Massaro is a Playboy cover girl. If I can make it with a Playboy cover girl--"

"Okay, stop that sentence right there," Kelly said. "Let's think about this for a second. You actually believe YOU could score with a Playboy cover girl? A Playboy cover girl could have anyone she wants. She doesn't have to settle for someone like you."

Now Miz was offended. "What, am I suddenly hideously ugly or something?"

"Oh you've always been hideously ugly," Christian informed him. "We were just trying to be nice and not say anything."

Miz threw up his hands in exasperation. "You guys are assholes. I hate all of you."

They all looked over at Ashley, who was actually looking their way now. She pointed to Kelly and motioned for the young blonde to come over to her table.

Kelly looked confused. "Wait, why is she pointing at me?"

"I don't know, but you better go find out," Raven said eagerly. He literally pushed the teenager out of her chair towards Miz's dream girl.

Miz frowned at the smile Ashley gave Kelly as the two girls began to talk. "I don't get it. Kelly can't give her my phone number when she doesn't even know it."

Dwayne forced Miz to turn around and face him. "Have you ever read any of the articles that have been Playboy?"

Miz shook his head. "No. What kind of idiot reads the articles in Playboy?"

"I do jabroni. And let me tell you something about Miss Massaro: she doesn't like strudel. She prefers pie."

Now Miz was even more confused. "What does her taste in pastries have to do with anything?"

Dwayne smacked him on the side of the head. "She's a dyke you fucking moron!"

"Oh," Miz said. It took a minute for that information to fully sink in. "Oh," he repeated, his voice growing in volume. "OH!"

"Quit yelling you idiot!" Raven ordered. "That's not--Christian, what are you doing?"

Christian had his cell phone out and he was taking pictures of Kelly and Ashley as they talked. "Dude, Kelly might actually trump Miz and get the girl the idiot wants. I am not going to miss a moment of this shit."

Miz tossed the salt shaker at Christian's head. "Okay, now I really hate you guys. I'm not even joking. I think I might blow you all up later if you don't stop making fun of me."

"Okay, okay, we'll stop," Dwayne said. He smirked. "When we're around you anyway."

XXXXXXXXXXX

"LAWSON YOU ARE FUCKING DEAD!" Mark screamed at the top of his lungs. "YOU BETTER FUCKING PRAY I DO NOT GET MY HANDS ON YOU!"

"YOU'LL HAVE TO CATCH ME FIRST!" James yelled gleefully.

Glenn groaned. In celebration of Jeff being declared dead by the FBI and James finally taking his rightful place as Jeff's father, James had decided to celebrate by pouring a bucket of ice water on an unsuspecting sleeping Mark. This used to happen all the time when they had been kids, and Glenn hadn't enjoyed it any more back then than he did now. This kind of fighting between the two large and homicidal men meant one thing and one thing only. It meant--

"Tell me a story," Cheyanne demanded, interrupting Glenn before the thought could be finished.

Glenn sighed and took the girl up into his lap. "I don't really know any stories."

"Tell me one anyway."

He rolled his eyes. "Okay. Once upon a time, my idiot half brother Mark set the funeral parlor we lived in on fire."

"Why did he do that?"

"Because he's an asshole. Anyway, we both ended up living with my real father Paul Bearer. And because my face got all burned up in that fire, Father Dearest kept me locked up in the basement for six years."

"What did you do for fun down there?"

"Watch TV mostly. But then one day, I decided I had enough of being hidden away and I broke down the basement doors with my bare hands."

"What did your daddy think of that?"

"Well he didn't get much of a chance to think anything because I killed him as soon as I saw him," Glenn said with a shrug. "Then I pried the Klondike bar he was holding out of his fat grubby hands and ate it."

"So you not only killed him for revenge, but you killed him for ice cream."

"Yes."

"Would you kill for ice cream again?"

"Yes."

Jeff came in, dragging an oblivious Melina behind him. "Glenn, Dad promised to take me to the movies but now your dumb brother won't stop chasing him around the damn house."

Glenn shrugged his shoulders. "So? What do you want me to do about it?"

"Well you better make him stop it or I'm GOING TO KILL HIM!" He started laugh maniacally.

"He's a terrifying terrorist," Melina informed Glenn and Cheyanne.

Glenn just kind of nodded along. What else could he do at this point? "Okay then. That's good to know."

James came barreling into the room, nearly tripping and falling as he turned around. Mark came in a few minutes later. He was still soaking wet from head to foot, and he looked ready to murder James. "You are so fucking dead Lawson," he snarled.

James just giggled. "Come on then," he taunted. "If you want me, come get me. I'm right here."

Mark lunged at James and tackled him to the ground. The two of them began wrestling all over the floor, shouting all kinds of obscenities at each other. Jeff tried to jump in, but Glenn grabbed him by the back of the shirt and stopped him.

"Let go of me!" Jeff ordered. "I want to fight too!"

"This isn't a fight you want in on," Glenn told him. "Trust me on this one."

"Why?"

"Because this isn't a fight anymore; this is foreplay."

"What do you--" Jeff's eyes widened. "Wait, what?"

James and Mark wrestled their way up to their feet and went crashing into the kitchen. Glenn suddenly knew that was as far as the two of them were going to get. "Okay, time to go!" he said quickly. He got up and tossed Cheyanne over his shoulders. He had been in the same house before when James and Mark went at it like this. It was something he only had to live through once before realizing that abandoning ship was the only thing to do.

Jeff just pouted. "Give me one good reason I should go anywhere with you."

"I'll buy you a chainsaw for your birthday if you move your ass and make sure I don't have to listen to the scary things your father and my brother are about to do to each other." Glenn knew promising a chainsaw to Jeff was the dumbest thing he could do, but he was desperate at this point.

Jeff grinned and nodded. "Okay. But if I don't get my chainsaw…I'LL KILL YOU!" He laughed as he stumbled out the door.

Glenn shook his head. "Damn, if I believed in God, I would so be praying for my life right now," he muttered as he carried Cheyanne and dragged Melina out of the house. "I fucking can't put up with this bullshit alone." He sighed. "I hope Tammy and Stacy don't come home too soon or they're going to be in for one HELL of a surprise."


	27. Chapter 27

James panted for breath as he stared up at the ceiling. His legs were weak and shaky and his entire body was sore. He tilted his head back enough to see something that he had no recollection of doing. "When did the table get destroyed?"

Mark sat up and looked back at the now splintered remains of the kitchen table. "I don't know," he replied honestly. "I think it happened sometime after we broke the pantry door."

"Oh." James slowly stood up. "Stacy is not going to be happy about this."

"You mean about what we just did, or the state of the kitchen?"

"The state of the kitchen. She's going to make us clean it up and if we don't, she'll try to kill us in our sleep." James looked around. "Where the hell did my pants go?"

Mark stood up and grabbed his shirt, which had been tossed up to the ceiling fan. "I think they went into the sink."

James sighed. "Oh wonderful." He took them out of the sink and shook them a couple of times. They were spots that were kind of damp, but they weren't totally wet, so he just put them back on. "I don't think we've destroyed a room like this since we were in our twenties."

"Yeah, I think I know why we stopped," Mark grumbled. "My back is fucking killing me. You are one rough bastard, you know that?"

"Me? I'm the rough one? You threw me through the pantry door! That fucking hurt you know."

The kitchen door opened and Tammy walked into the room. "Oh it's nice to see you two are at it again," she said with a grin. "Thank God I didn't walk in on it."

James rolled his eyes. For some odd reason, people were traumatized when they caught him and Mark going at it. He just could not understand what was so fucking scary about it. "Where's Stacy? I thought you two were like joined at the hip now."

"She's in the living room with Roxxi, Victoria and Natalya."

"When did they get here?"

"Like five seconds ago." Tammy reached into her purse and pulled out a pregnancy test."

"Bitch, what the hell is that for?" Mark yelled. "You told me you were on the pill!"

Tammy glared at him. "It's not for me stupid."

James groaned. "Oh God, please tell me it's not for Stacy."

"It's for Melina. I've caught her throwing up the past few mornings when nobody else was up."

James and Mark looked at each other. "On second thought, please tell me you quit taking the pill and its for you," Mark pleaded. "Please tell me James is not going to be a grandpa."

"Hey!" James exclaimed. "I would be a good grandpa!"

"Yeah, but think about Jeff as a father?"

James thought about that. That really was a scary thought. "Okay, maybe that is a scary thought," he admitted. "But there will be one bright side to Melina maybe being pregnant."

"Oh yeah, what's that?"

"If the baby pukes, I'll make sure it pukes on you."

Mark glared at him. "Yeah, and I'll make sure I ram my foot up your ass if you even try that."

Tammy sighed and rolled her eyes. "Oh boys. Can't you ever just get along?"

"We are getting along," James informed her. "We're not trying to kill or torture each other, so I think we're doing great right now."

"Yeah," Mark agreed. "I mean, I'll kill him if he ever puts baby puke on me, but besides from that, we really are getting along great now."

XXXXXXXXX

The next day made Jeff very, very excited. Today was his birthday. He was…wait, he couldn't remember how old he was. His mind was going about a million miles an hour and he couldn't really focus on anything. There was too much going on around him. Kelly and some girl named Ashley were talking and flirting in the corner and Christian and Raven were taking pictures and making lewd comments. Miz was pouting because apparently he wanted Ashley for himself, and Cactus kept looking at the blonde man like he wanted to wrap some barbed wire around his neck and strangle him to death. Jeff got a mental picture of Cactus doing that to Miz and it made him laugh like a crazy clown in the bozo circus.

Melina wandered into the room and looked around. "Hardy party," she said softly. She started to slowly spin around like a ballerina. "Party party, hardy hardy, party hardy hardy party."

Jeff grinned. "It's my party. All mine." He looked at the presents that had been stacked in the corner. "Oooh, presents!" Then he saw the cake that was sitting on the card table in the middle of the living room. "Oooh, cake!" Then he saw something else that was better than cake and presents combined. "Oooh, knife!"

James grabbed him and pulled him away from the weapon. "Not that one Jeffey," he said. "That one is for our food."

Jeff pouted. "You're really mean Dad. I hope you know that. I might electrocute you."

"You won't when you see the present I got you," James assured him. He made the younger man sit down on the couch. "But before we get to the presents, Roxxi has something to give you."

Roxxi walked over and handed Jeff a small, weird stick thing. He stared at it for a moment before frowning. "If this is my birthday present from you, I'm going to strangle you right here and now," he warned her.

"The lamb bears the mark of the wolf," Roxxi replied. She grinned insanely at him. "And now, from the womb of the lamb and the seed of the wolf, something will come that is neither innocent or good, despite its appearance. It's all black, like all the apples that came from the tree before it."

Everybody had stopped what they were doing so they could listen to what she was saying. "What the fuck does that mean?" Ashley finally asked.

Stacy sighed. "It means Melina is pregnant. She and Jeff are going to have a baby."

Everyone just stared at her for a moment as they tried to process that news. "Oh God no," Dwayne finally said.

"YAY!" Jeff yelled. He jumped off the couch, picked up Roxxi and spun her around until he fell over. He got back up to his feet and grinned at everyone. "I told you I was going to have some spawn! I told you couldn't stop me!" He started to cackle maniacally. "Did I tell you that Daddy?"

James just sighed. "Jeff?"

"Yes?"

"You are not allowed to drink six Mountain Dews in one setting anymore. It has made you way too hyper."

"Oh go to hell you old bastard!" Jeff turned to Mark. "What do you think of me becoming a daddy?"

Mark pursed his lips and thought about it for a long time. When he finally spoke, what he said was straight, simple and to the point. "The world is definitely doomed."

**I think I have to agree with Mark on that one. Anyway, there will be a sequel to this one, and hopefully I can get it started within the next couple of days. And I have another idea that invovles doing a whole bunch of one shots that take place either before Bound by Blood/And the Blood Rains Down or some could be like lost chapters to those stories. So with that being said, I hope you guys enjoyed reading it. I know I had fun getting out some of my demented side typed out -lol-.**


End file.
